On Their Own
by Berserker88
Summary: Only two months after the defeat of Lord Shen, Masters Ox and Croc are struggling to maintain order over the ravaged Gongmen City. In the midst of this struggle, a new threat emerges to endanger the city once again. But with the warriors of the Jade Palace all away on missions, Ox and Croc will have to stop this threat alone.
1. Great Turmoil

_I really didn't want to be doing two fics at once, but I couldn't help myself. This idea came into my head and I just HAD to write it. So my plan right now is to go back and forth between this and No More Turnabout for the time being, and winter break gives me a convenient chance to handle that._

_Anyway, I know most people would expect my next Kung Fu Panda story to be my sequel to The Art of Assassination and I'm still planning to do that eventually, but not right now. I don't want to just be "the Wu Sisters guy", and I'm too much of that guy already. So instead, I decided to write about Masters Ox and Croc, two other characters that have barely anything on this site. However, this story DOES take place in the same universe as my Wu Sisters stories, but why that matters won't be immediately apparent._

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 1: Great Turmoil

Gongmen City had long been one of the largest and most popular cities in all of China. With its rich commerce, beautiful architecture, and the invention of fireworks, it was a glowing symbol of peace and prosperity.

The keyword being _was._

Gongmen City _now _was quite a different story. Most of the rich commerce died down as citizens left in droves during Lord Shen's conquest. The beautiful architecture had been greatly damaged, especially the city's former capital, the Tower of Sacred Flame, which now sat in a pile of rubble. As for fireworks...that pastime in general became a lot less popular after their power was nearly used to conquer China.

Needless to say, Gongmen City was not in the best of states. It was times like this that required great leadership to bring the people together and restore the city to its former glory. Unfortunately, that too had been impacted. Master Thundering Rhino, leader of the kung fu council, was dead. The peacock clan, the city's traditional leaders, were also dead. That left the city's future entirely in the hands of two people: Master Rhino's students, Ox and Croc.

It wasn't that these two weren't capable. Indeed, they were both formidable kung fu masters and they had been a great help to their master as members of the council. It was just that the city's current problems far outweighed what they alone were equipped to handle.

And now, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

* * *

Masters Ox and Croc were currently in the middle of a spar in what was formerly the grounds in front of the Tower of Sacred Flame. The remains of the tower were a depressing sight, but this was still the best place in the city for them to train. In addition to all of the equipment they kept here, it was also a secluded spot that no one but their personal messengers were allowed to enter during their training. That gave them some much needed reprieve from the stresses of running the city, as did the training itself.

Master Storming Ox charged forward and brought down his large battle axe towards his opponent. Master Croc used his twin dao swords to block the axe, then spun around to swing his spike-studded tail back at Ox. He rarely let himself be hit by the appendage, but he had to jump back to avoid it, giving Croc the distance he wanted. While Ox tried to regain his balance, Croc went on the offensive, striking quickly with his swords. Ox was slowly being driven back towards the edge of their sparring platform, which would mean an instant loss if he fell off. Right before he went over, he pushed back with all his might, shoving Croc back a little. But it was not enough as Croc leapt over his next attack and delivered a spinning kick to his face, knocking him off the platform.

"Ha ha! I win again!" Croc boasted. "I believe that is 156-154 now."

"You just got lucky," Ox said, though he clearly meant it in jest.

"Hmph. You said that the other one hundred fifty-five times as well."

The two warriors had been sparring like this for a long time, before they even settled into Gongmen City. Master Thundering Rhino had laid out the perfect sparring schedule for them and they were able to emulate their normal routine to the letter. The only thing missing was Master Rhino himself.

Almost subconsciously, they both looked to the front of the sparring platform, where their master's cloud hammer was embedded in the ground. Lord Shen had used this hammer as a symbol of his conquest when he killed their master and took control of the city, but they couldn't bring themselves to remove it. They turned it into a memorial instead. What better place was there to have one?

Turning away from the hammer, Ox shoved the sorrow out of his mind and climbed back onto the platform. "Whatever, I want a rematch!"

Croc readied his dao swords and stared him down. "If you insist."

"Masters! Masters!"

They were stopped as a small antelope messenger ran into the area. "Figures..." Ox muttered.

The antelope finally reached them and paused to catch his breath for a few seconds before speaking again. "It's the Soothsayer! She wants to speak to you at once!"

They looked at each other worriedly. No news was good news, and the Soothsayer's news was never good.

* * *

Ox and Croc followed the messenger to the city's former kung fu academy/ former prison. It wasn't the most ideal place to establish their new capital, but it would have to do for the foreseeable future. They simply didn't have the time and resources needed to rebuild the Tower of Sacred Flame anytime soon.

They found the Soothsayer in the center of the room, staring down at the bowl in front of her. She glanced up to acknowledge them as they entered.

"...What is it?" Croc managed to ask after several seconds of silence. Already, they were both dreading what she would tell them.

The Soothsayer looked back down at her bowl, her face grim. "I have had a vision," she said. "I did not see much, but I know it was not good. Please...I would like to do another reading."

They nodded and came closer. The Soothsayer occasionally got brief glimpses of the future, but they usually didn't tell her much. For that, she needed to read the future of a particular person, or two. And since the future of Ox and Croc was the future of Gongmen City, they made the best candidates. Ox pulled a few strands of fur from his arm and dropped them into the Soothsayer's bowl. Croc had a more difficult and painful time ripping off one of his scales, but he managed it and dropped it into the bowl as Soothsayer motioned for them to step back and threw some powder into the bowl. The powder created a small burst of flame upon hitting the fur and scale and blue smoke started to rise out of the bowl. The smoke quickly filled a good portion of the room and the three watched as images began to form in it.

The first image to appear was that of several shadowy figures running across the smoke on all fours. They were unmistakably familiar. "Wolves," the Soothsayer spoke. "I see wolves attacking Gongmen City."

The wolves faded away into the smoke, replaced by a new image. This one was what looked like a tall cylinder on two large wheels standing straight up. The cylinder fell onto its side and a black ball shot out of it. This too, was instantly recognizable. "They will claim the weapons used by Lord Shen, and once they do...".

The final image was the most disturbing of all. At first, it seemed to just be Gongmen City as seen from a distance, surrounded by the smoke from the bowl. Then they realized that the smoke was meant to be a part of the image here. The city was in flames. "...Gongmen City will suffer great turmoil."

After those final words, the smoke receded back into the bowl and the air cleared. Ox and Croc just stood there, gaping in horror for several moments. The Soothsayer, while still grim, didn't seem nearly as frightened. She was used to this kind of thing after all.

Finally, Ox found some words and they were pure denial. "No, no, no, we just _had _great turmoil. We're_ in _great turmoil. We aren't ready for more!"

The old goat just smiled at him softly. "Whether you are ready for it or not, it will come."

Ox and Croc stood there for a few seconds more, then Ox whirled around and pointed behind him. "You!"

The antelope messenger who had bore witness to all of this yelped and shuddered under the master's stern glare. "M-Me, sir?"

"Yes, you! Deliver a message to Grandmaster Shifu of the Jade Palace at once! Tell him everything that the Soothsayer has foreseen. We must get the help of the Jade Palace at once!"

"Yes, sir!" the antelope rushed out of the room without another word.

"Do you think they can help?" Croc asked nervously.

"Of course they can. They helped us save the city before and they can do it again," Ox responded. He sounded like he was trying to reassure himself more than his companion.

Not that he didn't need reassuring. "O-Oh, yes. Of course they can help."

Neither of them noticed the Soothsayer looking away and sighing. There was one more part of the vision that she saw, but it was best if they found that part out for themselves.


	2. The Lang Qun

_To explain the names that I use in this chapter: "Kai" is Chinese for "victory", "Hui" means "intelligent" or "wise" and "Lang Qun" is simply "wolf pack". I believe that "Qun" is pronounced "chin", but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong._

* * *

Chapter 2: The Lang Qun

"What do you mean they're _busy_?!"

It had been a few days since the Soothsayer's prediction and the two masters were feeling no better about it. As if they didn't have enough problems without something like this happening. They were in the middle of yet another spar when their messenger came back with a reply to the request for help that they sent. They thought that maybe something good would actually happen today until they heard what that reply_ was_.

The poor antelope looked like he was fearing for his life as Master Ox loomed over him. "I-I got a response f-from one of the J-Jade Palace's servants. He s-said that the masters are all a-away on missions. T-They can't send anyone to help."

"All of them?!"

"Y-Yes, a-all of them."

Ox let out a large plume of air from his nostrils in typical bovine fashion. This was a good cue for the messenger to leave and he wasted no time in doing so. "I can't believe this!" Ox yelled. "How does that even happen? Are we just that unlucky?"

Croc had been silent ever since the messenger arrived. He now sat on the stairs, a claw to his forehead in thought. "Perhaps not. Do you think they could have planned this?"

"Who?"

"Whoever is trying to destroy the city. If they want to attack us at our weakest, then it would make sense for them to ensure that we can't get help from the greatest warriors in China. They could've kept an eye on the Jade Palace, waiting for a time when none could come to our aid."

Ox was skeptical. "Come on, it's _wolves _that are behind this, remember? They're not exactly known for their critical thinking skills."

"That's another thing that's bothering me," Croc said. "Given the circumstances, it's most likely Shen's wolves that we're dealing with. But most of them were either killed by Shen's weapons or arrested after the battle was over. Sure, a few might have escaped, but it couldn't possibly be enough to constitute a threat."

Now Ox was looking perplexed as well. "Yeah, you're right. Plus, how would they even get a hold of Shen's weapons anyway? We hunted down and destroyed every last one of those things after the battle."

The Soothsayer's prediction had seemed pretty clear at the time, but now the masters were left greatly confused over what this threat to their city really was. They weren't about to suggest that her prediction could have been wrong, as that would practically be suicide, but they were filled with questions as to how it could possibly be right.

They would be getting answers far sooner than they would have liked.

* * *

Master Storming Ox tossed and turned as he struggled to get some sleep, and not just because he was lying on an uncomfortable cot.

Their bedrooms in the Tower of Sacred Flame had been destroyed along with everything else, so they used the academy building as their sleeping quarters as well, ironically in the very same rooms that Shen had stuck them in. The jail cells had been student barracks before he modified them and now they were serving that purpose again, even though the two of them could hardly be called students anymore. They were more than used to these things by now. No, the cots were not the problem.

The problem was the overwhelming feeling of dread that he just couldn't escape now matter how hard he tried. If it wasn't bad enough that they had to deal with this new enemy all by themselves, they also had very little idea of who this enemy even _was_. He almost wished that these guys would just attack already so they could at least know what they were up against.

No sooner did this thought cross his mind when a shrill voice echoed through the building. "Masters, come quick! Bandits in the marketplace!"

Ox groaned and put both hooves to his face. Him and his big mouth.

* * *

"What time is it?" Croc asked groggily. He had actually gotten some sleep that night, but not a whole lot before the guard's cry woke him up. After grabbing the same axe and dao swords they had been using for practice lately, they rushed down the city streets towards the marketplace.

"About 3," Ox replied. "I should've known they would attack so early in the morning." He couldn't be too bitter about it. It wasn't like he was sleeping anyway. Besides, this meant that there were very few people out on the streets to get in their way, or get hurt.

"Right...though this could be a totally different group of bandits, you know." Something in Croc's voice told him that he really didn't believe that, but Ox stayed silent as they reached the marketplace. Any doubt that they had about their attackers vanished in an instant.

There were wolves here all right, but not quite the ones they were expecting. They were a small group of about seven, wielding various weapons. The few shopkeepers who were still doing business at this hour were easily tossed aside as the attackers dug through their goods. Their armor was similar to that worn by Shen's wolves, but pitch black in color, and every one of them wore a full facial mask. All except one.

This one particular wolf was standing right at the front of the group. It wasn't just his armor that made him stand out, as his looked almost the same as the other wolves minus the mask. Rather, it was his posture. Unlike most wolves, who were constantly hunched-over in a feral stance, this one stood up perfectly straight, both arms folded behind his back. Instead of the savage expressions that most wolves wore, his was calm and regal. His fur and claws were perfectly groomed as well. In short, he was the very definition of sophisticated, something they never thought they would see from a wolf.

This anomaly of nature just stood there with his back to them, watching the other wolves at work. Since this was obviously their Alpha, they started forward to rush him, when he suddenly spoke. "Master Storming Ox and Master Croc I presume?" Somehow, it didn't surprise them that he knew they were there. Something about this guy just seemed...focused. The other wolves were surprised though, and some stopped to look at them before the Alpha gave a shooing motion with his paw and they went back to their pillaging.

"Who are you?" Ox demanded.

The Alpha finally turned around, fixing both of them with cold, blue eyes. "I am Kai Hui, one of the highest-ranking commanders of the late Lord Shen. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"So you _are _Shen's goons. Can't say I've ever heard of you, though."

He didn't seem particularly shocked. "Really?"

Croc scratched his head. "Yeah, we never saw you at all during Shen's attempted conquest."

"Did you honestly think that Shen would gather his entire army in one place?" Hui asked, somewhat mockingly. "The majority of his forces were in Gongmen City, yes, but he had another, smaller faction that served as strategic reinforcement. His 'special forces', if you will. I was put in command of that faction. Shame he never got the chance to use us."

"So that's where all these wolves came from," Croc noted. At least one question was answered, though he couldn't say the answer was reassuring.

"What are you after?" asked Ox. "Planning to avenge Shen?"

Hui raised an eyebrow. "Avenge a dead bird? Now what would be the point of that? Our last Alpha was loyal to Shen and look where that got him. Shen has already proven that he doesn't care about us. Why should we care about him?" His arms stretched apart in pride. "We are not Shen's soldiers anymore. We are the Lang Qun and we shall reign supreme!"

Only now did they realize something else that was different about the wolves' armor. The red insignia, Shen's insignia, was missing. They were serious.

Ox stepped forward and stomped the ground hard, cracking it. "Enough of this! Surrender now, or we're taking you down!"

"Is that so?" Hui raised two fingers up to his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. Instantly, the six wolves raiding the marketplace stopped what they were doing and rushed over to him. They stood behind him in an orderly formation, creating an even row. "I have trained them quite well, as you can see. Now boys, show these 'masters' what the Lang Qun can do." He whistled again and the wolves moved slightly apart, forming a gap in the formation. Hui turned on his heel and walked calmly through the gap, as if he were taking a casual stroll.

"You're not going anywhere!" Ox yelled, attempting to chase after him. He was quickly blocked by the other wolves, who closed the gap again and stood in his way. He could only glare at Hui's back as he turned a corner and disappeared.

"Uh...I think we have a bigger problem," Croc said, readying himself. Ox did the same. There may have been only a half-dozen wolves standing in front of them, but they had a feeling Hui's training involved more than just standing in formation.

As if by some invisible signal, the Lang Qun suddenly charged forward at surprising speed, quickly surrounding the masters. Ox and Croc stood back-to-back, then struck out with their weapons as two of them attacked. One of the wolves swiftly dodged Ox's axe and the other caught Croc's dao swords with a pair of his own.

Just as they feared,_ these _wolves were way better fighters than Shen's.

As the rest of them started to close in, Croc pushed the wolf with the swords back a bit. "Ox, give me a toss!" he yelled, jumping towards his teammate. Ox landed a punch on the axe-dodger and quickly turned around, cupping his hooves together. He caught Croc's feet in his hooves and threw him over his head. Croc landed on the outside of the circle and swung his giant tail at the wolves from behind. The one that Ox had punched was hit and knocked out while the other two skillfully flipped over the tail and attacked with their swords. They were clearly skilled with the weapons and Croc struggled to fend them both off, getting a few small cuts in the process. Just as his back was about to be forced against the wall, he shoved his swords in between the two wolves and pushed them apart. He then rolled into the opening and performed his signature split-kick, taking them both out.

On the other side, Ox was contending with the other three wolves. One back-flipped away to avoid his axe as another stabbed at him with a spear. Just as he sidestepped the spear, one more swung a sword at his head. He ducked the sword, scooped the wolf up in his horns, and flung him into a wall. The one with the spear attacked again, this time nicking him in the side a little. The first wolf then leapt back in and kicked him in the face, knocking him to his back. He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the spear stabbing into the ground, then grabbed the wolf by the throat and threw him into his companion. They tumbled into one of the market's stalls, which collapsed on top of them.

After all of the wolves were beaten, Ox and Croc just stood there for a while, both of them breathing heavily. They may have won, but it was a shallow victory. They could barely handle a half-dozen of these new and improved wolf warriors, and they knew Kai Hui had many more waiting in the wings. They both looked at each other and away again as they tried to put words to what they were thinking. Eventually, Ox found some.

"What the hell are we going to do?"


	3. Tension Rising

_This is the last chapter I'm going to upload before I go back to my other story for a bit. For some of you, it's going to be an EVIL cliffhanger._

* * *

Chapter 3: Tension Rising

Kai Hui was a bit conflicted as to how he should proceed.

He stood atop a balcony, gripping the railing as he watched his men training in the room below. The current hideout of the Lang Qun was an abandoned kung fu academy that was both unknown to most people and several li away from any civilization, Gongmen City included. Their enemies didn't need to know that they were nowhere near the city. Let them search for them in vain. They would come out of hiding again soon enough.

Hui saw some of the wolves below him sparring with each other using swords, spears, and other weapons, while another group was focused purely on kung fu training. He recalled that one of the first things Lord Shen did after his exile was to gather the army together and attempt to teach them all the art of kung fu. Alas, most of the wolves had only gotten enough training in the royal guard to know how to hit things with sharp objects, and they failed spectacularly at learning anything more. The few that did learn ended up with only rudimentary kung fu skills, including the Alpha.

He was the sole exception. He not only learned kung fu, he _excelled _at it, attaining a level of skill that rivaled Shen himself. Unfortunately, one success in a sea of failures was hardly enough and Shen quickly gave up on the training. He had to shed much of his pride that day when he got down on his paws and knees and begged the warlord to reconsider, but it ultimately paid off when Shen decided that the few wolves who showed potential in kung fu could form a separate unit in his army. Not wanting do deal with them himself anymore, he put Hui in charge of it. The heavy burden of that position didn't even occur to him at the time and he accepted without hesitation.

And now, here he was. He had left Shen and his ideals behind and now sought only what was best for his lupine brethren. He felt a bit guilty that some of those brethren had to be sacrificed this morning, but he needed to gauge just how much of a threat Masters Ox and Croc really were. According to a wolf that he used to secretly spy on the battle, the masters had won, though not without difficulty. That told him that they were a small threat, but a threat nonetheless. If Shen could be defeated by a panda of all things, then he wasn't going to underestimate these two, and he wasn't going to lose any more men to them if he could help it.

They needed to die, sooner rather than later.

* * *

It was now the middle of the afternoon as Master Croc walked down the streets of Gongmen City by himself. He disliked the idea of splitting up from Ox at a time like this, but they had a routine to follow. Every day, they would patrol each half of the city, keeping an eye out for trouble. They had the royal guard to do this, but the group of antelopes, while well-meaning, weren't very effective. If they were helpless before Shen's wolves, they had no chance against the Lang Qun.

Reluctantly, they had decided against telling the citizens just how serious this threat really was and had written off this morning's attack as an ordinary bandit raid. They hated lying to the people, but they had enough hardships to deal with already.

"If only Master Rhino were here," Croc heard himself mutter. It wasn't the first time either of them had said that, and it wouldn't do any more good saying it now. Master Rhino _wasn't _here and they just had to accept that. Given how much of an impact he had made on their lives, that was much easier said than done.

In the midst of his brooding, Croc noticed a small bunny girl running up to him. Just by looking at her clothes, he could tell that she was from one of the poorer districts, perhaps from one of the families whose homes had been destroyed during Shen's attack. The girl smiled sweetly and cupped her paws together. "Master Croc, could you please give me ten yuan for food? Pretty please?

Croc reached into his pouch and pulled out a large, gold coin that he dropped into her paws. "Thanks, Master Croc!" She turned and happily skipped away. Looking out for trouble wasn't the only reason they did this. They also did it for the people who needed their help most during these tough times. Despite the circumstances, he felt better knowing that at least there would be one less starving family in the city.

* * *

"So you still got nothing out of them?"

Master Ox was finished with his patrol of the city and had gone to the prison, now that they could use the real one again, to check on the six Lang Qun members they had captured. "I'm afraid not, sir," the guard replied. "Not only have they not given us anything useful, they haven't given us anything at all. They've been completely silent since they were brought in.

He couldn't say he was surprised. Wolves were known for their high degree of loyalty and endurance, these ones probably even more so. They could keep trying all they wanted, but Ox knew they were more likely to stumble across their hideout themselves than get one of them to talk.

It wasn't surprising, but it was still frustrating. Ox turned and slammed his fist into the wall, making the guard jump. It did help him to calm down though. "Alright...thanks anyway." Ox was about to leave when he suddenly got an idea. Maybe there was another way they could get information from them. "Actually, I have a favor to ask you. Go in there and grab me some fur samples from each of them."

"Um...why?"

"Just do it!"

Knowing better then to test Ox's temper, the guard did as he was told. Ox couldn't help but chuckle as he heard a few of the "silent" wolves yelp in pain as their fur was yanked out. A few moments later, the guard returned, the fur collected in a small bowl. "Is this enough?"

"Yeah, it should be plenty," Ox said, taking the bowl from him.

The Lang Qun may not want to talk to them, but prophecies could not keep quiet.

* * *

"Sir, our guest has arrived."

Kai Hui looked up from his desk as the wolf appeared at the door to his office. Technically, it was neither his desk, nor his office. They had belonged to the former master of this academy, as was apparent by the plain wooden floor and minimal amount of decoration. He could't complain, all things considered. "Let him in."

The wolf stepped out of the doorway and another person walked in. He wore a large brown cloak and hood that covered almost his entire body. The only part of his face that he could see was a little bit of his muzzle, on which he saw a rather unsettling smirk. "Nice place ya got here," the hooded man said, looking around the room. "Especially for a rental. A good home just doesn't come cheap these days."

"I didn't call you here to make smalltalk."

The man frowned, but only for a second before the smirk came back. "Right, right. Ya wanna talk business." He grabbed the chair in front of Hui's desk and sat himself down. "Okay then, let's talk business."

He was clearly insane, Hui thought, but he had pretty much expected that. Assassins weren't known for being the most stable of individuals. "You've already been informed of your targets, yes?"

"Yup. Masters Storming Ox and Croc of Gongmen City," he recited, leaning back casually in the chair. "Should be a fun challenge."

Hui just nodded. The less time he had to talk to this man, the better. "Good, then let's discuss your price. I believe it was ten-thousand yuan?"

"Uh uh uh," he said, waving his finger at him. "It's ten-thousand yuan _each_._"_

He glowered at him. "The Wu Sisters are cheaper."

"Yeah, well the Wu Sisters lost to these guys before they were even masters. That's why ya didn't hire them in the first place, right?" That smirk was suddenly looking a lot more smug then before.

Hui fought back the urge to snarl. He was better than that. "Fine. Twenty-thousand yuan it is, but _only _if you succeed. You don't get a single fen until they're both dead."

"Ah ha ha ha, fine with me," he laughed, extending a paw over his desk. "Now, shake."

Hui didn't move. "At least have the decency to remove your hood first. I want to know the face of the man I'm hiring."

"Sure." He pulled back his hood, revealing an orange-furred fox with bright, blue eyes. A clump of fur hung from his chin to form a small beard, and of course, the smirk was still there. "Don't ya worry about a thing. Jin the Assassin always hits his mark!"

They shook paws.


	4. Jin the Assassin

_Already doing a chapter of this again. I think I'm just going to go back-and-forth between them like this. I update so frequently that it shouldn't leave a very big gap in either story._

_Anyway, this is mainly where this story connects to Always Together, but it's not really necessary that you read that before this. For those that haven't, Jin is just another OC of mine. For those that HAVE though, you've probably already noticed that he's a bit...different...from what you might remember. _

* * *

Chapter 4: Jin the Assassin

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Croc asked, looking skeptically at the bowl of wolf fur in Ox's hooves. The two had rejoined late at night and were heading back to the academy building.

"Of course I'm not sure. I'm not gonna pretend that I know how exactly the Soothsayer's powers work. But I figure it's worth a shot. If she can read the future of the Lang Qun, maybe she can tell us more about what they're planning."

"But...those wolves you got it from are in prison. I don't think they _have _much of a future."

"I know. It's just...we don't have a lot of options here."

He couldn't argue that.

They walked through the doors of the academy. "Alright, let's send out a message to the Soothsayer and tell her to meet us here," said Ox.

"No need for that."

They froze in the doorway as they saw the goat in question already sitting in the middle of the room, even having her fortune-telling bowl ready. "You're already here? Did you foretell our arrival?"

"No, I got a message from one of the prison guards. They seemed to have an idea of what you were up to."

"Oh..." Ox suddenly felt like an idiot. "Then you already know what we want you to do?"

"Yes, but I can't guarantee anything will come of it."

"That's fine. Just please try."

The Soothsayer nodded and motioned for them to bring their bowl over. She took a peek inside and laughed. "My, you sure went overboard, didn't you?" Ox tried to avoid further humiliation by just tossing the fur in. Just like before, they took a few steps back as the Soothsayer threw the powder in and smoke filled the room. Ox bit his lip and Croc crossed his fingers, both hoping to get something, _anything_, useful.

For a moment, it seemed like their hopes were dashed as all they saw were the same images of the wolves, which they now knew to be the Lang Qun, followed by the image of Shen's weapon again. The Soothsayer didn't bother to say anything during this, which only confirmed that this was just a recap.

But then something changed. Instead of the final image of Gongmen City in flames, they saw only a single building, looming ominously on a mountainside. "Is that...the fireworks factory?" Croc asked.

"Yes," the Soothsayer answered. "I foresee the Lang Qun coming to this building in the near future."

"Why?"

"Why _else? _They want Shen's weapons."

Ox clenched his fists. "That's impossible! None of those weapons exist anymore! How could they find them at the factory?"

"Keep watching and find out," she answered.

The image of the factory faded away and was replaced by that of a wolf standing upright and holding what looked like a scroll in a raised paw. "That's Kai Hui," Ox growled. "I'd know that prissy stance of his anywhere. But what's that thing he's holding?"

The Soothsayer gazed deeply into the smoke in concentration. "Hmm...I am not sure, but I know that it is what the Lang Qun seek."

"What? I thought you said they were after the weapons."

"That's it!" Croc pounded his fist into his palm. "Those must be the blueprints for the weapons! If they get those, the Lang Qun will be able to reproduce them!"

"I think you're right," Ox said nervously. "The blueprints must be hidden somewhere in that factory, somewhere that we never found when we destroyed the weapons themselves."

As the final image faded away, the smoke receded once again. The Soothsayer looked up at them with a small smile. "Well, that was better than expected, don't you agree?"

"Yes, very much so. Thank you, Soothsayer."

"How were you able to see all that anyway?" Croc asked. "I thought that you wouldn't be able to read those wolves' futures with them in prison and all."

"My seeing is not limited to a single path. In the same way that I could see multiple paths for Lord Shen based on his decisions, I saw what those wolves would have been a part of had they not been captured. You could say that their pack unity worked against them this time."

Ox was quick to get to his hooves. "Right! We need to get to that factory now!"

Croc was about to agree when he saw a small glint out of the corner of his eye. Focusing his vision, he could see the glint coming from behind a column on the upper level of the academy. It took him only a second to realize what it was, and a second more to realize that he needed to act.

"Look out!" He tackled the Soothsayer to the ground and immediately afterward heard a high-pitched whizzing sound followed by a loud crash.

"Woah! What the heck?!" Ox stepped back a bit as the Soothsayer's fortune-telling bowl suddenly exploded in front of him, a crossbow bolt embedding itself in its remains.

"Awww...and here I thought I might get a bonus for offing the goat too."

Ox and Croc both glared up at where the shot had been fired as a strange individual walked out from behind the column. He was a fox, dressed almost entirely in green except for a white sash around his waist and a pair of brown boots. He leaned casually against the column, one metallic crossbow pointed at the two of them, and another one hanging from his side, along with a small bag that presumably contained more bolts. His muzzle was formed into a psychotic smirk.

Ox huffed. "Great, another nutjob. And who are _you _supposed to be?"

He gave a mocking bow. "Jin the Assassin, at yer service." He paused mid-bow. "Well, technically the Lang Qun's service, but ya get the picture."

"An assassin? Sounds like Hui really doesn't want us getting involved."

"Something like that." Jin eyed the two of them back and forth, looking much like a predator cornering his prey. "And now that you've learned _that _bit of knowledge, I'm definitely gonna have to put ya down. But first..." His crossbow moved and pointed at the Soothsayer again, now lying on the floor. "...I _really _want that bonus." He fired.

Croc moved once again to protect her. In her prone position, he couldn't very well push her out of the way this time, so instead, he whirled around and crouched over the goat as the bolt neared. It bounced harmlessly off his impenetrable hide and fell to the floor. It felt like a small tickle to him.

Ox wished that he could get a painting of the look on Jin's face right now. "...Well, crap." He turned and ran out the door.

"Hey!" Ox leapt up onto the upper level and gave chase, followed closely by Croc.

No way in hell was he getting away that easily.

* * *

Ox and Croc charged out of the building into the open street. They looked around warily, but couldn't see Jin anywhere.

"Up here!"

They looked up onto a curved rooftop across the street. Jin the Assassin stood on top of it, illuminated by a full moon. "It's been a long, long time since I've had a real challenge." He snatched the other crossbow from his waist and pointed both of them at the two masters. "Come and get me!"

They obliged, jumping up after him. Still having higher ground due to the curved roof, Jin fired both crossbows at once. Croc again spun around quickly to deflect the bolt with his hide, while Ox used his horns instead. They both reached Jin at about the same time and attacked him from opposite sides. Jin repositioned his crossbows and used them as makeshift shields, blocking both Ox's fist and Croc's foot.

"Heh heh heh. Yer gonna have to do better than that." Jin broke both blocks at once and spun around, bashing Ox in the face with one of his crossbows and kicking Croc in the chest. He then attempted to shoot Ox at point blank, but the bovine recovered quickly enough to lean back and let the bolt pass over his head. Croc came back in and swung his tail at Jin. Unexpectedly, the fox dropped his other crossbow, grabbed onto Croc's tail, and swung him around into Ox as he tried to stand back up. The two skidded to the edge of the roof before they managed to stop themselves.

"Come on, is that all ya got?!" Jin kicked the other crossbow back up into his paw and fired a bolt straight up into the air for no apparent reason.

"This guy's completely insane," Ox groaned, getting back up.

"Yes, but that also makes him unpredictable. Can you find his weakness?"

"I'll try." Ox stared intently at Jin, his world going into slow-mo as he analyzed him for weaknesses. His vision went to his sash, then one of his crossbow-wielding paws, then the tip of his tail, and finally centered on his muzzle. "He has a glass jaw. One good punch right in that creepy smirk should lay him out."

"I don't suppose you have a plan on how we should do that?"

"Sure I do. I'll distract him, while you get up there and nail him in the face."

"Not exactly the most creative plan, but I'm game."

Ox and Croc rushed the assassin again, this time putting their plan into effect. "Hey fox boy, over here!" Ox, being the bigger, slower, and louder target, had little trouble getting Jin to focus on him. While it wasn't really possible to rapid-fire a crossbow, Jin was reloading and firing at such a rate that he might as well have been. Ox wasn't fast enough to avoid most of the shots, but he was perfectly capable of just standing there and deflecting each of them while continuing his taunts. Meanwhile, Croc was slowly sneaking up on the assassin from behind.

Unfortunately for them, Jin was smarter than he looked and they didn't notice as he loaded a very specific bolt into his crossbow. As that bolt was fired at Master Ox, he raised his hoof to deflect it, seeing too late that there was a small fuse attached to this one. The resulting explosion tore up part of the roof and knocked Ox onto his back. He wasn't hit directly, but his arm and a good part of his chest were covered with burns, which proved immensely painful.

"Ox!" Croc shouted before he could stop himself. Hearing his cry, Jin turned around in an instant and shot a bolt into Croc's gut. He gasped and staggered back from the blow, taking one step too far and falling over the edge.

Seeing his friend's plight, Ox struggled to get back up, but was in too much pain to do it fast enough. He could only stare up helplessly as Jin aimed the crossbow at him next. His smirk looked more deranged than ever. "Ah ha ha ha! So much for a challenge. That was _way_ too easy. But hey, at least you'll make me some good coin."

*SPLASH*

Jin froze as he became aware of the reptile now standing behind him. Before he could react, Croc's tail hit him in the back and he flew forwards, tumbling along the ground. Ox finally got up and intercepted him as he tried to regain his balance, nailing him with a punch straight to his jaw. Jin spun through the air, right over Croc's head, and off the roof.

"How did you do that?" Ox asked.

Croc gave a sly grin. "I landed in a canal. Getting back up here from the water was a piece of cake." On cue, they heard another splash and looked over the edge where Jin had fallen. A large ripple was left behind on the surface of the canal, but the fox was nowhere in sight. "You don't think he's dead, do you?"

"I doubt it. He's probably doggie paddling away somewhere as we speak."

Croc laughed, which turned into a series of coughs as he hunched over. For the first time, Ox saw his wound. The bolt had already fallen out, probably from when Croc swam up through the water, and the gaping hole was leaking blood. "Stay here," Ox commanded, laying Croc on his side and leaping off of the roof. He came back only moments later, carrying some bandages from the academy building. He used the bandages to wrap up Croc's torso, covering the wound. "That will do for now, but we need to get you to a healer."

"No," Croc coughed again. "We have to get to the fireworks factory and find those blueprints. We've already wasted enough time here."

"I'll go to the factory. You stay behind and get some rest."

"If you think I'm letting you take on the Lang Qun alone, you're crazier than that assassin."

"You're in no shape to fight!"

"Neither are you," Croc argued, gesturing to his burn marks. "I could smell your burnt fur from ten li away. Either both of us go, or none of us do."

Ox glared at his partner for several seconds, but he refused to back down. He finally relented. "Alright. But you had better be careful."

"You too."

They both jumped down from the roof and didn't stop for anything else as they headed for the fireworks factory.


	5. Fireworks

_Guess what movie got pushed back to 2016 again? Thank God for fanfiction or I would probably go insane. _

_Speaking of movies, the layout of the fireworks factory in this chapter is based entirely off of Kung Fu Panda 2. If you've seen the movie as much as I have, you can probably recognize every area I mention here.  
_

* * *

Chapter 5: Fireworks

Ox and Croc didn't know how long they had been running when they finally saw the looming figure of the fireworks factory in the distance. All they cared about was getting there as fast as they could. Even with their recent injuries, they forced themselves to keep moving, knowing that the fate of Gongmen City rested on them.

The first sign that something wasn't right came when they heard faint sounds coming from the direction of the factory. Fireworks were still being used and sold within the city, but the production of them had ceased for the time being. The factory was supposed to be abandoned.

"No..." Ox gasped. Though they knew it wouldn't do any good now, they sped up even more, praying that they were wrong.

They weren't.

Once they reached the wooden walkways surrounding the factory, they could plainly see the shadowy figures of the Lang Qun moving around. There were only a handful guarding the exterior, but they knew there had to be many more inside the building already. The masters quickly hid themselves behind some crates before they were seen. "Damn," Ox swore. "We're too late."

"So it seems. What's the plan?"

"The plan was to get here first," Ox said dryly.

"Alright, so what's the new plan?" Croc had always been the more optimistic of the two, even if only slightly.

Ox took a quick look around the area, trying to find an easy way they could pull this off. There was none. "We need to get inside. It may be a deathtrap, but the whole city is at stake here."

The front door was out of the question, so they slowly made their way up the walkways, trying to reach one of the upper windows. With the low number of guards, it was pretty easy for even the rather large masters to sneak by. As they reached the top of the walkway, they hid themselves again as a pair of masked wolves walked by.

"Man, this sucks," they heard one of them complain. "We've been standing out here for hours with nothing to do."

"Consider yourself lucky," his companion chastised. "Would you rather be in there, working your tail off looking for those stupid blueprints?"

"I guess not..."

"See? Then you should count your blessings while- are you picking your nose?"

The first wolf pulled a claw out from behind his mask and hastily wiped it on his armor. "No."

"You were! I saw you!"

"So what if I was?" he asked defensively. "You got a problem with that?"

The second wolf stopped and grabbed his arm. "I don't, but you know Hui does. Remember what he did to that guy he caught scratching his ear with his foot?"

"Oh yeah," he laughed. "He was like 'you have _paws _for that, you cretin!'" Then he slapped him to the floor."

Despite the serious tone he had earlier, the second wolf laughed too. "Aw man, that was a _perfect _impression of him!" The wolves continued laughing as they walked away.

"Did you hear that?" Croc whispered excitedly.

"Yeah. Looks like Hui has a real kick for personal hygiene."

"Not _that. _ I mean the part about them looking for the blueprints. The Lang Qun don't know where they are either."

"Forgive me if that doesn't make me feel better, considering they still outnumber us a hundred to one."

"Hey, do you smell something?" The two wolves had stopped just ahead and the first had his nose in the air, sniffing around. "Smells like something burnt."

"It's a fireworks factory, genius."

"No, I mean out here. Close."

The second wolf sniffed around himself. "Hey, you're right."

Hearing all this, Croc gulped nervously. "Um...Ox? Remember when I told you that I could smell your burnt fur from several li away?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I think they can too."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the wolves suddenly turned around and walked back towards their hiding place. Knowing they were about to be caught, Ox and Croc decided to use the element of surprise and sprung up as the wolves got close, grabbing them by their masks and simultaneously headbutting them unconscious. The noise they made was very little and ordinary guards would probably never notice it.

Unfortunately, as they were well aware by now, the Lang Qun were anything but ordinary. "Intruders!" a wolf below shouted. Now all the wolves left were rapidly climbing up the wooden frameworks to reach them.

"Great, more ninja wolves," Ox said, cracking his knuckles. "Bring em' on."

The first of the Lang Qun to reach the top was a wolf carrying two swords, much like the one they had fought in their last encounter. This time however, Ox had no man-made weapon to defend himself with, so he used a natural one instead. As the wolf tried to swing both swords at him, he blocked with his horns and shoved the wolf back. He followed up with a kick that the wolf dodged, and he charged back in again.

Croc was being attacked by a wolf with a bo staff. He dodged side-to-side to avoid the staff, while trying to find an opening to exploit. He was starting to realize how bad an idea it was to rush off here without weapons when the wolf landed a blow to his gut, deliberately aimed at his wound. Hissing from the pain, Croc tried to retaliate by swinging his tail back at him. The wolf twirled his staff, catching Croc's tail and flipping him onto his back. As more wolves climbed up and approached the downed reptile, Croc made a daring move and rolled right over the side of the walkway.

The wolf who had caught his tail was thrown over with a yelp of surprise and fell into a pile of crates below. Croc himself caught hold of a wooden beam and watched as two wolves jumped down to balance on top of it, slowly approaching him from each side. Croc swung his legs back and forth, gradually gaining momentum, until he was able to flip himself back up and split-kick the wolves in the face before landing back on top of the beam. "I love that move."

Up above, Ox had just finished off the sword wolf with a knee to the chin when he spotted three more trying to take the easy route up the large ramp to the side. Ox grabbed a nearby barrel of gunpowder and chucked it down the ramp at them. Predictably, they all jumped right over it...which is why Ox threw a second barrel right after that nailed them in midair. "How are those fancy moves of yours _now _punks?"

By this point, only a single wolf was left, and he had already lost his weapon. Realizing that he was alone and unarmed, the wolf took a deep breath, getting ready for a warning howl. Just as he was about to release it, Croc's spiked tail was stuffed into his open mouth, instantly silencing him. Croc swung his tail and the wolf was thrown over the side, joining his friends in the pile at the bottom.

Knowing that time was of the essence, Ox and Croc wasted none on words. They merely nodded to each other and climbed into the factory through a window, leaving behind a slew of broken wood and broken bones.

* * *

The fireworks factory looked very different than it had in the past. Having been abandoned for months, none of the machinery was still active and the glow of molten metal was absent, leaving only a dark, quiet, dried-up husk of the building it used to be.

The lower levels of the factory were practically crawling with Lang Qun as they seemed to be literally ripping the place apart in search of the blueprints. Thankfully, their frenzied searching, combined with the overpowering smell of sulfur that still clung to the area, made Ox and Croc practically invisible as they hid on top of one of the upper floors. Croc cautiously peeked over the side, only to immediately duck back in when a wolf looked up in his direction. "Okay, we're in. Now what?"

"I'll admit, I didn't really think this far ahead." Croc glared at him. "What? You're the one who wanted a plan."

Croc thought about the few options they had. "Well...we can't very well go down there, so all we can really do is search the places they haven't yet."

"_Are _there any places they haven't searched yet?"

He smiled. "Yes, I think so actually. By the looks of things, they're starting on the lower levels of the factory and working their way up. That means the upper levels haven't been touched yet." His smile quickly turned into a frown. "...Assuming that the blueprints aren't down there, in which case, we're screwed."

"And I thought _I _was being the negative one. Let's get moving."

The two started to search the upper levels, made harder by the darkness of their surroundings and the fact that they had to remain stealthy. Despite this, they didn't split up, knowing that that would only make things harder in the long run. For a while, they didn't see anything that even remotely looked like a hiding place, but there was one area that caught their eye. It was a raised platform in the middle of the factory that served as a place for the overseer to watch the rest of the building. There were two fire pots still lit up here, and in between them was a map of China...or what was left of one. The map had been almost entirely burned away, leaving only the very edges intact. The only reason they even knew it was a map in the first place was because they had seen it back when the factory was active.

"Looks like Shen went a little pyro here," Ox said, lightly touching the edge of the map. "Can't say I'm surprised."

Croc started looking around the area. "If this is where Shen oversaw the production of his weapons, then this seems like the most logical place for him to hide the blueprints." There were a bunch of scrolls sitting on shelves nearby, but Croc didn't even bother to check them. If they were hidden somewhere that obvious, they would have been found already.

Eventually, it was Ox who found the blueprints, and by complete accident at that. As he walked around the platform, his heavy hoof suddenly crashed through a loose board and hit something metallic underneath. As he pulled the object out, he saw that it was a scroll casing, sandwiched in between these boards and the ones below.

"Do you think this is it?" Croc asked. It seemed like a dumb question, but they had to be sure. Ox quickly unscrewed the top of the case and poured its contents out into his hoof. It was a series of parchments tied together with thin rope. They could partially see some drawings written on the parchments, as well as some characters and numbers. Even without unfurling them all the way, they had no more doubts about what they were holding.

"This is them alright," Ox said with a grin. "Now let's get outta here."

"I was wondering when you two would show up," a familiar voice spoke. As much as they really didn't want to turn around right now, their kung fu instincts forced them to.

Kai Hui was standing behind them, with about two dozen Lang Qun glaring down at them from above.


	6. Escape

_I decided to do one more chapter of this before my other story. I didn't want to leave you on that cliffhanger for too long and more people seem to care about this story anyway._

* * *

Chapter 6: Escape

Ox and Croc found themselves unable to move. The shock of being caught and the dawning realization that they were hopelessly trapped left them frozen for several moments. The Lang Qun surrounded them from above like a circle of sharks, all brandishing weapons at them. This was one fight they knew they absolutely could not win. Kai Hui seemed quite aware of this as he stood on the end of the platform, calmly staring at them with complete confidence. It seemed impossible to them that he could have found them so quickly until they finally put it together. "This was a trap," Ox realized. "You knew where the blueprints were all along!"

"No, but I had my suspicions," Hui said, smiling darkly. "Thank you for confirming them. With both you and the blueprints in our control, Gongmen City is ours for the taking."

"You want to use us as hostages?" Croc asked. "Then why sic an assassin on us?"

"I _did _want to kill you at first. It was only after I hired that idiot fox that I realized you may be more useful to me alive. No one would dare stand in my way with the lives of the city's leaders at stake. Now then..." He brought one paw out from behind his back and extended it forward. "...hand over the blueprints."

Croc looked nervously at Ox, who stared down at the blueprints in his hoof. He knew what would happen if Hui got his paws on them and he couldn't allow that. No matter what. "I don't think so." Ox took a step back and held his arm over to the side, dangling the blueprints over the lit fire pot. There were several gasps from the wolves around him.

Hui narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oh, I think I would. Master Thundering Rhino gave his life to protect the city, and if I need to do the same, I will."

He was dead serious and Hui could tell. "Alright then. What are your terms?"

"I have none."

"What?"

"I told you, protecting this city is more important to me than anything else." He saw Croc smile at him and knew that he would've done the same thing in his position. Master Rhino had taught them well. "Say goodbye to the blueprints, Hui."

He dropped them.

"No!" Ox watched the blueprints fall towards the fire, smiling in satisfaction. Suddenly, he saw a black and gray blur pass in front of his vision and the blueprints were gone. They reappeared back at the end of the platform, Hui clutching them in one paw. All of this happened in less than a second.

Ox's jaw dropped, as did Croc's. "How did you do that?"

Hui smiled at them again. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know? Now, to claim my other prize." He turned away and whistled to the Lang Qun. The wolves started to climb down to the platform, closing in on them.

Ox and Croc looked back at each other, now only having one option: to fight. Luckily for them, the wolves were off-guard now, confident in their victory, and they still had one more trick up their sleeves. "Croc, it's time for Maneuver 26."

"Ooooh, that's a fun one. I'm ready when you are."

As the wolves got closer, Ox suddenly leapt forward, landing on all fours and going into a charge. At the same time, Croc jumped onto his back and grabbed his horns, the two looking like a demented rodeo act. Needless to say, the Lang Qun were not expecting this at all and only stood there in shock as the duo charged through them, Ox bashing them aside with his horns and Croc doing the same with his tail. They charged straight for Hui and the blueprints. The Lang Qun commander performed a back-flip, letting the masters pass underneath him as their momentum carried them through the wooden railing and right over the side.

Hui landed gracefully back on his feet and glared after them, the slightest hint of a snarl on his lips. "Perhaps you aren't worth the trouble, after all."

* * *

Ox landed hard on the floor of the factory, but didn't let this slow him down as he continued his mad dash, Croc hanging on his back. They soon heard the thunderous pounding of many footfalls behind them as the Lang Qun gave pursuit.

"What about the blueprints?" Croc yelled down to his friend.

"It can't be helped! We need to get out of here and warn the city!"

At first, it seemed like that might be easier than expected as Ox proved to be faster than the wolves in this state, even with Croc's weight on top of him. Their pursuers soon realized this and started to fall back. But before the masters could even tempt fate, they heard a sharp whizzing noise as an arrow notched itself into the ground next to them.

Ox growled in frustration. "Oh, they have archers too! Of course! Why wouldn't they?!"

The next arrow to come at them would have hit Ox in the leg had Croc not spotted it and knocked it out of the air with his tail. "Just keep going! I'll tell you where to move!"

The arrows continued to rain down while Croc shouted directions to avoid them. "Left! Right! Left again! Up!" Ox jumped a large piece of metal in front of them. Croc looked back, rather pleased with himself, when he saw a huge volley of arrows coming down, too close for him to give a shout in time. Instead, Croc roughly yanked Ox's head to the right, forcing him to make a sharp turn and avoid the arrows. This action caused him to let out a loud, undignified moo.

"Did you just _steer _me?!"

Croc chuckled. "Was that a pun?"

"No!"

"Oh...then yes. Sorry."

Thankfully, that was the last of the arrows as they finally got out of range. The only thing standing in their way now was the factory's large metal gate. There were few opponents who could withstand Ox's charge and he decided that this gate would not be one of them. He lowered his head and snorted, charging full speed ahead as Croc closed his eyes and hoped for the best.

Whether or not Ox could bust down the gate turned out to be irrelevant as they found it opening in front of them. A small crowd of wolves stood at the other end, all looking bruised and battered. "Boss! It's those masters! They're he-" The unfortunate wolf's eyes widened behind his mask as said masters plowed right through them and kept going. As soon as they passed over the ridge and left the factory grounds, the rest of the Lang Qun poured out of the building behind them, ready to continue the chase.

"Let them go!"

The wolves all stopped in their tracks as Hui walked out. He only spared a quick glance over the ridge before looking down at the blueprints held in his paw, an evil grin forming on his muzzle. "We have more pressing matters to deal with."

* * *

As soon as they entered the city again, Ox and Croc returned to their normal method of travel and walked the rest of the way home in complete silence. They headed into the academy building, went into their separate rooms, and lied down on their cots, still not saying a word. Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, the full impact of what just happened finally hit them. A good five minutes passed of them just lying there, staring up at the ceiling, when Ox finally broke the silence. "We're not cut out for this, are we?"

Croc said nothing, not having any good response to that question. Ox continued, his voice quiet and sullen. "If Master Rhino were there, he would've stopped Hui from getting the blueprints. If the Furious Five were there, they would've done it too. Hell, even the Dragon Warrior would've pulled something out of his butt and saved the day." He gave a deep sigh. "But because it was _us, _the city is doomed. Some protectors we turned out to be..."

Seeing his normally cocky and boisterous friend like this was really starting to get to Croc and he could keep silent no longer. "It wasn't our fault. There's nothing more we could have done." Even as he said those words, he knew they were hollow.

Ox made no response and just turned away from him on the cot. It was a clear sign that their brief conversation was over. Croc sighed and turned away as well. It wasn't like he was feeling much better anyway. They had failed. That much was undeniable. So far, everything was going according to the Soothsayer's vision. If they didn't do something soon, Gongmen City would burn.

But that didn't mean they should give up hope. They had done that once already, back when they gave in to Shen's demands and stayed in this pitiful cell while the warriors of the Jade Palace were out fighting for the city, fighting the battle that should have been theirs. How bitterly ironic that they now had no choice but to fight that battle themselves.

He just hoped that they could pull off a miracle too.


	7. Memories

_This chapter contains some flashbacks, which are denoted by italics. It's the first time I've ever done this, so let me know what you think._

* * *

Chapter 7: Memories

It had been a full week since they failed to stop the Lang Qun, and Masters Ox and Croc were feeling more and more apprehensive by the minute.

They knew that the wolves had to be in the process of recreating Lord Shen's deadly weapons by now. They probably had several of them made already and who knew how many more they would produce. By the time they decided to attack, their armada could be even bigger than Shen's. And the worst part was, there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

They had already sent another message to the Jade Palace, only to be told that they were still busy with their own missions. They promised to come help as soon as they were done, but knowing Hui, it would already be too late by then.

They also made an attempt to request help from the Imperial Army, but that ended in failure as well. Their response was that the Lang Qun "did not yet pose a serious threat" and "there is no evidence that they can reproduce Shen's weapons." That's what they _said _anyway. The masters suspected that, in actuality, they simply didn't care about Gongmen City anymore. The city's reputation had suffered greatly after Shen's attack and there were some who would rather see it shrivel up and die than send any kind of aid.

They even tried to get help from the Soothsayer again, but she could provide no more insight. The only thing her vision showed this time was the image of the city burning, which wasn't exactly reassuring. Multiple times they considered evacuating the city altogether, but continued to decide against it. They weren't even sure why. Perhaps they feared the Lang Qun would attack sooner if that announcement was made, or perhaps they didn't want to make their already-impoverished citizens leave their homes, or perhaps they were just being cowards.

In any case, all they could do now was continue on their daily routine and wait for their doom to come.

They were back in the middle of another sparring session, futile as it was. No amount of training was going to be enough for them to stop the Lang Qun by themselves, especially not with those weapons in their possession. But still, they trained. At least it was _something_ productive.

It was in desperate times like this that they remembered the better days...

_Ox and Croc faced each other on that same sparring platform many years ago, back when the shadow of the Tower of Sacred Flame still loomed over them. _

_Back then, their techniques were far less refined, having been street fighters for most of their lives. They had to constantly remind themselves to keep their kung fu teachings in mind as they traded blows and to fight with honor. Master Thundering Rhino stood watching them, adorned in his new master's robes and holding a giant cloud hammer that he hadn't yet fully mastered. He was trying his best to look like the wise mentor, but was clearly uncomfortable in that role. They couldn't blame him. It had only been a few days since he had become their master. _

_At first, they were all on equal standing under Grandmaster Oogway, who took them on as students after their victory over the infamous Wu Sisters. He took them here to Gongmen City to continue their training, in the hopes of being able to look after the city in place of its former rulers. Eventually, Rhino proved to be the fastest learner of the three and Oogway granted him the title of master. He then left their sides and returned to the Jade Palace, leaving Rhino in charge of their training. _

_That pressure was really starting to get to him, something that did not go unnoticed. "Rhino-er, Master Rhino?" Croc asked, reminding himself of their new relationship again. "Are you alright?" Ox had stopped himself in the middle of an attack and was now looking at him as well._

"_Please...don't call me that," Rhino said, avoiding their gaze. "I'm not ready for that title yet." _

"_Grandmaster Oogway says otherwise," Ox argued. "You're not gonna deny his wisdom NOW are you?"_

"_Well, no...it's just...". Rhino fumbled for words as he looked down at his robes. "...I'm not sure I'm ready for this kind of change yet. I mean, we were just friends a few days ago and now I'm supposed to be your master."_

"_What, you think that just because you're our master now, you can't be our friends anymore?" Croc asked, giving a cheeky grin. "Boy, for the wisest of us all, you can sure be dumb."_

_Rhino looked back up, a little offended, when Ox cut in. "Yeah, no one said we're not allowed to have fun anymore. Lighten up."_

"_That wouldn't be very professional."_

"_Screw being professional. In case you haven't noticed, Oogway himself isn't exactly the most traditional master either." He went over and put a hoof on Rhino's shoulder. "How about this: you can be our strict, no-nonsense, kung fu master during the day, but once practice is over, the three of us go back to just being buddies."_

_Rhino gave a soft smile. "I would like that."_

_Croc cracked his knuckles. "Well, now that that's settled, can I go back to whupping Ox's butt?"_

"_In you dreams, scale-face." Ox fell back into his fighting stance._

_Rhino watched his students, his friends, stare each other down, and took on a stern demeanor. _

"_Begin."_

Croc took a punch to the jaw and was flung off of the sparring platform. As his head cleared, he looked up to see Ox throwing his arms up in triumph. "Yes! That's 161-160! I take the lead!"

Croc didn't feel the need to tell him that he had just spaced out for a bit. Let him have his victory. Whatever kept his spirits up. "I want a rematch!"

"You're on!"

Croc climbed back on the platform and readied himself again. There was no better way to forget about their impending demise than in the heat of battle.

* * *

Several li away, Kai Hui sat at his desk in the abandoned academy, in the midst of writing a letter. The place was quieter than usual as he had sent most of the Lang Qun away to their foundry in order to work on Shen's weapons, which he had recently named 'cannons'. Might as well put a name on such a masterpiece of weaponry.

The letter he was writing now contained instructions for that group, telling them what to do once the cannons were complete. He had little doubt that they could finish the cannons and carry out his instructions without supervision. He had trained them well enough.

As he continued to write, he started to realize how familiar this all seemed to him. The office had grown on him over the past several weeks, feeling more and more like home...

_Hui couldn't remember how long he had been in his room today, but he didn't care. _

_Piles upon piles of scrolls, books, and other documents lay spread on the desk of his room, some falling onto the floor. The young, wide-eyed wolf pup ignored the mess, figuring he would get to them all eventually. Gongmen City was such a fascinating place, and there was so much to learn. He couldn't believe how much he didn't know about his own birthplace. His nose was currently buried in a book about the history of the city, a history filled with so many interesting facts that he wasn't sure his brain could hold them all. But he would certainly try. _

_He was halfway through the chapter about the invention of fireworks when a loud slam startled him. His mother stood in the open doorway, looking sternly at him. "Hui! What are you still doing in here? Didn't I tell you to go outside and play?"_

_He fiddled his fingers nervously, trying to look anywhere but at his mother. "I-I'm sorry, Mama. I was just in the middle of this really good book and-"_

"_No more excuses!" she snapped at him. "I didn't rent you all those historical documents so you could waste all of your free time cooped up in this room. Wolves are social animals, Hui. You need to get along with the rest of the pack."_

_He knew she was right. After all, one of the first things he elected to learn about was his own kind. It was unhealthy, sometimes even fatal, for a wolf to be so isolated. And yet..._

_Hui walked over to his window and peered outside. He could see some of his packmates playing in the street, playfully wrestling with each other. Even from here, it was obvious how unlike him these other wolves were. Their fur was unkempt, their clothes stained with dirt, and they were so aggressive too. Compared to his well-groomed fur, clean clothes, and calm temperament, it was hard for him to imagine that they were even the same species sometimes._

_He felt his mother's reassuring paw on the top of his head. "I know what you're thinking, but you're not as different as you think you are. We're all wolves, Hui. We all have the instinctual drive to come together as a pack. Just keep that in mind and do your best to make some friends."_

_Hui was still a bit nervous, but swallowed the lump in his throat and managed a smile. "...I'll try, Mama."_

_She smiled back as she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "That's all I can ask." _

_Hui reluctantly slipped on his sandals, as for some reason, he was the only wolf who ever bothered with them, and headed outside. _

_It was about twenty minutes later that he came back in. He could still vividly remember the look on his mother's face when she saw him. He looked quite a lot like the other wolves now with his messy fur and clothes, except that he was also covered in bruises and had a very noticeable black eye. Both eyes were brimming with tears. _

"_You were wrong, Mama," he sniffled through a bloody nose. "I AM different. TOO different." Without another word, he retreated back to his room and slammed the door._

Kai Hui was shaken out of his memories when he felt a wetness on his paw. He looked down and saw that he had been squeezing his ink pen so tightly that it had snapped and spilled ink on his paw, and on the letter. He felt ashamed for allowing such petty memories to distract him at a time like this. Those days were over. He was the Alpha now.

He grabbed a nearby cloth and wiped most of the ink off his paw, but some of it stubbornly clung to his fur. No matter, he would be going to the bathhouse later anyway. He considered himself lucky that this building happened to have one.

Tossing the pen and paper away, he started over, not willing to let this minor frustration get to him. Wolves had a tendency to be easily-angered, yet another problem with the species that he needed to fix. The Lang Qun still had a few unfortunate habits here and there that reminded him of the savages he had known before, but overall, they were meeting his expectations nicely. Which was good, because his plan was about to move into the next stage and it would only get harder from here.

Finally finishing his letter, Hui sealed it in an envelope and passed it off to another wolf, who saluted and rushed off to deliver it to the workers at the foundry. Hui watched him leave, feeling a tinge of both anxiety and excitement wash over him.

Soon, so very soon, his dream would become a reality.


	8. The Deserter

_Why did I put two male characters in a bathhouse together? Because it fit nicely with the last chapter and I thought it would make a unique change of setting. I'm not trying to start any kind of crazy crack shipping, I swear._

_I also bring in another OC. "Chou" is pronounced "Cho" and is Chinese for "stink"._

* * *

Chapter 8: The Deserter

"What in the name of the gods above gave you even the slightest idea that you could use our bathhouse?"

The old bathhouse next to the academy looked somewhat rundown, but was still fully functional after the Lang Qun's renovations. Kai Hui currently had the wolves stationed here on a specific time to bathe every night, which was met with a bit of resistance. To think that he actually had to force them to bathe on a regular basis. There was a reason why his own bath was separate from theirs. Aside from the overwhelming stench of wolf musk at such close quarters, he could simply use the privacy.

It was _supposed _to be private anyway. He certainly wasn't expecting Jin the Assassin to already be in it.

"I needed I bath, and this was the closest place I could think of. Sorry." The fox smirked at him, clearly enjoying his discomfort. Most of his upper body was sticking out of the water, showing off his white-furred chest. Hui wasn't sure if he was wearing anything below the water and he didn't want to find out.

He himself was wearing a silk bathrobe that he absolutely refused to take off now. He didn't want to get chased out of his own bath, but there was also no way he was getting in with him, so he settled for just sitting down at the egde and sticking his feet in, along with his ink-stained paw. Jin laughed at this. "Ah ha ha ha! Relax, buddy. I already got a mate. I'm not interested."

Hui glared at the fox contemptuously. "You certainly have a lot of gall coming back here after you failed your mission."

"Failed? I didn't fail."

"...How do you figure?"

"Well, I'm still alive, aren't I? So it wasn't a failure. More of a 'delayed success'." He actually threw up air quotes as he said this.

Hui rolled his eyes. "Yes, well you and your 'delayed success' can pack up and leave as soon as you're done stealing my bath. I have no more use for you."

"Are ya sure about that?" he asked slyly. "From what I hear, those two masters are still giving ya problems."

"You hear wrong. They are of no consequence anymore."

He was legitimately surprised when Jin saw right through his lie. "Oh please, don't give me that crap. Ya think I didn't notice all yer soldiers that looked like they had the snot kicked out of them? So ya got lucky and snatched those blueprints, but they _are _gonna get in yer way again, and ya need someone to put them in their place."

"And that someone is going to be you?" Hui asked, making no attempt to hide the doubt in his voice. "Forgive me if I'm not filled with the utmost confidence considering how that worked out last time."

"Delayed success!" Jin emphasized again. "Look, I don't even care about the money anymore. Those two have insulted my honor as a remorseless, bloodthirsty killer. I must have my revenge!"

Hui frowned. As much as he _really _wanted nothing to do with Jin anymore, he didn't have much to lose by hiring him again. At worst, he would still make a suitable distraction. "Make it half price and you have a deal."

"Deal! WOOHOO!" Jin slammed both paws into the water in celebration. The resulting splash created a small wave that completely soaked Hui. The Alpha wolf gave a slight growl and spat out some of the water.

At least he got his bath.

* * *

Outside the bathhouse, a pair of Lang Qun guards were on patrol, looking out for any intruders. Of course, they had no reason to expect any and so they weren't particularly alert. One of them was planning to take advantage of this. "Hey, did you hear something?"

His partner stopped for a moment and titled his head around. "I don't hear a thing."

"There it is again!" he insisted. "I think it's coming from over there." He pointed at the nearby bushes.

The other wolf sighed and started towards the bushes. "I swear, if this ends up like last time, I-"

*****THUMP*****

He didn't get the chance to finish that sentence. The first wolf had beaned him over the head with a rock while he was distracted. He collapsed to the ground unconscious. "Sorry, Lu," the first wolf said, wincing. "I couldn't take any chances."

He dragged Lu into the bushes and looked around warily, making sure that no one else was nearby. Then he sprinted into the forest without another second of hesitation. He knew he wasn't going to get this opportunity again.

As he ran, he heightened all of his senses and constantly looked back to make sure he wasn't being followed. It wasn't paranoia, he simply knew better than to underestimate the Lang Qun. He had been one of them until just minutes ago after all. By now, the other guards could have already found Lu and be on his tail at this very moment, tracking his scent. It was a foregone conclusion that they would find him eventually. He just had to reach Gongmen City before that. The Lang Qun wouldn't dare follow him there. Hui had specifically ordered them not to enter the city without his command.

After what felt like hours, the city's lights came into view. He couldn't help but smile once he made it into the city grounds without issue. He was so relieved that he didn't notice the diminutive antelope guard he had just sprinted past. Nor did he see him signaling to a few more guards up ahead. The next thing he knew, a large net was thrown over top of him, pinning him to the ground.

As he struggled to get up, he was finally overcome with exhaustion and passed out.

* * *

"So that makes seven now?"

Master Croc, alongside Master Ox, were standing at the gates of the prison, speaking to the captain of the royal guard. Apparently, they had just captured a member of the Lang Qun trying to sneak into the city and brought him in. Croc was quick to congratulate the guard on their performance. What he didn't say was how surprised he was that they actually managed to take down a Lang Qun by themselves. The tiny antelopes had enough self-esteem issues as is.

Ox didn't share in his partner's happiness. "So what? It's not like the other six did much for us."

"That's the interesting part," the captain said. "This one wants to talk."

That made both Ox and Croc gape in surprise. They looked at each other for a second just to make sure they had heard him right. They didn't want to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but maybe they finally had a glimmer of hope.

As the captain led them into the cell, they took a look at the wolf inside, tied firmly to a wooden chair. For interrogation purposes, his mask had been removed and they could see that he had light green eyes. He looked a bit saddened, but not as much as they would expect for someone in his situation. The captain let the masters inside and left them, knowing that they could handle this themselves. "So, I hear you wanted to talk to us?" Ox asked, glaring suspiciously at the wolf.

"Yeah," he replied, speaking in a deep, guttural voice. "My name is Chou."

Ox snorted. "That's a rather cruel name."

"My parents were jerks. At least they didn't name me Lang. There's enough damn Langs in the pack already." He let out a laugh.

While they talked, Croc stared closely at the wolf. He seemed familiar to him somehow, as if they had seen this particular wolf before. The way he laughed at his own joke was what made it click for him. "You're the nose-picker!"

Both Ox and Chou looked at him like he was crazy. Croc realized that statement alone didn't make much sense. "Erm...you remember when we were sneaking into the factory, Ox? Those two wolves we overheard?"

"Oh yeah. You're saying this guy was one of them?" Ox looked at him a bit closer as well, using his signature perceptive ability. His eyes narrowed in on his forehead. "You're right. I still see the bump from where I headbutted him."

"Thanks for that, by the way," Chou muttered.

"Enough reminiscing." Ox grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his snout. "You have information, and we want it _now!_"

"Okay, okay. All you had to do was ask." Ox huffed and released him. Chou cleared his throat and continued. "As you know, the Lang Qun have the blueprints for the cannons now. We have a-"

"Cannons?"

"Yeah, that's what we're calling them now. Dumb name, I know. Anyway, we have two main hideouts. One is an abandoned kung fu academy a few li north of Gongmen City. The other is a foundry in a nearby town. We took it over without alerting the civilians and have been using it to produce the cannons."

Croc nodded. "Okay then. We'll gather the royal guard and launch an assault on that foundry."

Chou shook his head. "No good. Hui just sent the order for them to move out this morning. They'll be long gone by the time you get there."

"Then...we attack that old academy-"

"Won't work either. They must know of my defection by now and they'll leave the hideout."

Ox looked ready to punch him. "So what do you have to tell us that's actually _useful?!_"

Chou opened his mouth to reply, but stopped. He looked down at the ground. "Uh...nothing, I guess..."

"I knew this was a waste of time," Ox snapped. He turned and started to walk out of the room.

"I'm sorry!" the wolf cried. "I just wanted to help..."

"Why?" Ox looked back over his shoulder. "Why do you want to help? The other Lang Qun we captured didn't say anything."

Chou tensed up and snarled angrily. "Because I'm sick of the Lang Qun! I'm sick of Hui and his sadistic 'training'! You ever wonder how he got the other wolves to do whatever he wants just by whistling like that? It's because what he does is nothing short of brainwashing! He keeps drilling all these kung fu and etiquette lessons into our heads until we're just his living puppets!"

Ox and Croc were silent, both shocked by the wolf's sudden tirade. At this point, his anger evaporated away and turned into sorrow. "Most of us have already fallen under his control, and the rest are too scared of him to do anything about it. That's why I want to help. I want to bring him down."

"Eeesh, sounds like the Lang Qun isn't the big happy family we thought it was," Croc finally said, looking uncomfortable. They should've seen the signs sooner. The way the Lang Qun responded to such simple cues. The way that most of them barely spoke a word. Even the way they fought seemed more mechanical than animal. Living puppets was an appropriate term. It never occurred to them that Chou and his friend were just the luckier ones.

Ox walked up to Chou again, looking more sympathetic. "Please, if there's anything at all that can help us stop Hui, we need to know."

He sighed. "It's no use. Hui was very secretive about his plans. I have no idea how they're going to launch their attack...except..."

"Except _what?_" Ox urged.

"I'm not sure how useful this will be, but I remember this one time I heard one of the other wolves asking Hui about the attack. He said something like 'we will not attack from outside the city, but from below it'."

They stared back at him in confusion. "Below?" Croc asked. "There's nothing below the city...right?"

"Actually, there is."

They turned around and saw the Soothsayer standing at the door. "Soothsayer? How did you know where we-". Ox slapped his forehead as he remembered who he was talking to. "Nevermind. What do you mean by there being something below the city?"

"I am referring to the Undercity, of course."

"The Undercity?" he gasped. "That's only a myth!"

She smiled at him in that all-knowing way of hers. "I assure you that it's quite real. And by the sound of things, Kai Hui knows this as well."

"Alright..." Ox said slowly, still trying to wrap his head around the idea of a giant underground city right below them. This was the kind of thing that longtime protectors of the city should've been _told_. "How would that help the Lang Qun though? They would have to get into Gongmen to get to the Undercity, not the other way around."

"Unless they were to tunnel into the Undercity from outside," Croc suggested.

Chou suddenly shot up. "Oh! So _that's _why Hui sent all those digging tools to those guys at the foundry."

Ox looked at him blankly. "You couldn't have mentioned that part sooner?"

He shrugged. "I didn't think it was important." Ox grunted. The average wolf did not have Hui's intelligence, that was for sure.

"Anyway...since we don't know where this tunnel of theirs is, we'll have to get into the Undercity ourselves and stop them from reaching the surface."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Croc asked.

"We'll figure that part out when he get there."

"Oh boy..."

"Wait! Let me come too!" Chou shouted. "I can help!"

"How?"

"Uh..." He looked back and forth, trying to come up with something. "...M-my nose! I'll be able to smell the other Lang Qun long before you ever see them. That could help, right?"

"Fine, you can come. But we're keeping a close eye on you, understand?" Even if Chou had already proven himself, Ox refused to fully trust him. There was still the possibility that this could all be some elaborate trap.

Croc used his claws to cut Chou's bindings and released the wolf. He stood up and stretched out a bit, a big, goofy grin on his face. "Alright! Let's go on an adventure!"


	9. The Undercity

_Just to clarify, the Undercity is not my original creation. It actually comes from Kung Fu Panda 2: The Game. I don't know why I keep referencing that game, since I've never played it and heard it kind of sucked, but I felt that it would fit nicely with the story. That said, I only had a few game clips to work with and I've already made some alterations to make it fit better, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't count as canon anyway, so whatever. _

* * *

Chapter 9: The Undercity

It was mid-morning the next day as the Lang Qun continued to work away in their tunnel. It was intentionally constructed in the middle of nowhere, so it was unlikely that anyone would stumble across it anytime soon. That was good, because even with such a large force, it was taking a while.

Kai Hui stood back, carefully observing the wolves digging into the walls as the wrong move could easily cause a cave-in. Jin the Assassin stood next to him, tossing one of his twin crossbows into the air and catching it over and over. Hui kept a close eye on him too, in the very good chance that the thing accidentally discharged.

"Bit of an overly complicated plan, don't ya think?" Jin asked. "I mean, couldn't ya just invade the city from the surface? Doesn't seem like it would be much of an issue."

"We _could_, but not without a fight. And that would only damage the city further, possibly even to ruin. My aim is to get inside and force a quick surrender without any casualties."

"Clever." Jin went over to a nearby wolf taking a break and nudged him in the side. "It's a good thing you've all got a good head on your shoulders, huh?" The wolf snarled at him.

"Silence," Hui ordered. He instantly stood up straight and made no other sound.

"A good head indeed." Jin laughed. "So how long's it gonna take for yer little slaves to bust through to the Undercity?"

"They are not _slaves_," Hui hissed. "They are my brethren."

Jin waved a paw in front of the masked wolf's face and snapped his fingers a few times. No response. "Uh-huh. So how long?"

Hui glared at him, but answered anyway. "Another few hours at least."

He pouted. "Seriously? But it's so dull out here!" He threw and caught his crossbow again and the inevitable finally happened when it went off, sending a deadly bolt straight at Hui. Quick as lightning, the Alpha's paw caught it inches from his muzzle.

"Don't forget your job," he said, tossing the bolt aside as if it were merely a thrown pebble. "You're here to take care of Masters Ox and Croc should they interfere again."

"I think ya mean _when _they interfere again," Jin said, his ever-present smirk even more pronounced.

Hui turned his attention back to the workers, slowly making their way further and further towards their destination, then towards the half-dozen large crates that sat behind them. "Yes."

* * *

"Alright, everyone ready?" Ox asked.

"Ready," Croc answered.

"Ready," Chou responded only a second later.

"Good. Then let's get going."

The Undercity was remarkably easy to find once they knew where to look. In fact, it's entrance was buried directly beneath the academy building. This was no coincidence, as it was decided that if anyone should have access to the place, it should be the city's kung fu masters. That only peeved them more that they had no idea it existed until now, but the Soothsayer's justification was that the Undercity was ancient history and they really had no use for the knowledge anymore outside of this specific situation. It was hard to disagree with her.

Despite all the secrecy, the unlocking mechanism was nothing more than yanking down a specific torch on the wall. A child could have figured it out. But again, only if they knew anything was hidden there in the first place. There was a loud scraping noise and Croc and Chou had to jump back as the floor suddenly started opening up beneath them. The giant taijitu (yin yang symbol) that marked the ground opened along it's "curve", creating an opening about five feet wide before it stopped. The area below was dark and gray, a stark contrast to the well lit academy building. A stale, musty scent wafted up to their noses, telling them that it had been a very long time since someone last opened this.

"Woah," Chou said, echoing what they were all thinking.

"Let's not waste any more time gawking," Ox said sternly. "We have to move quickly."

They all jumped down into the opening, prepared for whatever awaited them down below. This time, they had the foresight to bring along some weapons. Ox had traded out his giant battle axe for two smaller ones that he could dual-wield. Croc had gone with a tri bo yao, a difficult, but very effective weapon in his capable claws. As for Chou, he insisted that he was better in bare-pawed combat, but Croc lent him his dual dao swords anyway. Better safe than sorry.

As they landed on the dusty floor, they looked back up through the opening, wondering how long it would be until they saw the light of day again. Ox turned to Croc. "Hey, this is the only entrance to Gongmen from the Undercity, right?"

"According to the Soothsayer, yes."

"Then here's an idea. Let's just bring down the walls up ahead and seal it off."

"That _would _be a good plan if it weren't for the fact that the Lang Qun have cannons now."

"Damn," Ox swore. "And here I thought we might actually get off easy for once."

"What, you're not afraid of the big scary Undercity are you?" Chou teased.

He soon learned that Master Storming Ox did not like to be teased as the giant bovine was now looming over him menacingly. "What was that?"

"Um...n-nothing."

As soon as that was settled, the trio started making their way through the Undercity. From what they could tell, the place looked less like a city and more like a giant underground prison, where the 'houses' more closely resembled prison cells. It was made up of a series of corridors that connected to each other through centralized rooms, making the whole place very labyrinthine. They were grateful they had Chou's powerful nose with them, or else they could have easily missed the Lang Qun entirely.

"How anyone could ever live in a place like this is beyond me," Ox said. "It gives me the creeps." While Chou had made fun of him earlier, he and Croc now agreed with him. The dismal scenery combined with the eerie silence was putting them all on edge. They half-expected evil skeletons to pop out of the ground and attack at any moment. There were certainly enough bones for them.

"As much as we have a habit of flying by the seat of our pants, we really need a plan here," Croc said, more to break the silence than anything else.

Ox nodded. "Alright, let's overview the situation and try to come up with something. So, we're dealing with a hundred or so wolf warriors with enough skill to give us trouble individually."

"Then there's Kai Hui, who's most likely highly-skilled and whose abilities we barely know anything about," Croc added.

"And they've got a bunch of cannons now, which each have the power to destroy entire buildings," Chou finished. "So...got anything?"

Croc sighed in resignation. "Flying by the seat of our pants, it is..."

They were fine with silence after that.

* * *

Eventually, they found themselves in a very large room. A large taijitu was marked on the floor at the center, just like in the academy building. They walked on to the symbol and used this as a vantage point to get a better look at the place. They could see the ruins of what looked like buildings littering the area around them, as well as several other exits in addition to the one they came in through.

"If this used to be a city, then this must be the 'town square'," Croc deduced. "Wanna bet the Lang Qun are going to be coming through here?"

"I'd say that's a pretty safe bet," Ox agreed. "No matter where their tunnel enters the city, they'll most likely have to cut through this 'square' at some point."

"So now what?" Chou asked, idly kicking a loose stone into the distance. "We just sit around and wait for them?"

"No," Ox said, facing him. "We're going to do something a little more productive that that. We're going to spar."

"Excuse me?"

"So far, our only experience seeing you in combat was a fight that ended before it began. I want to see what you've really got."

Any nervousness Chou might have had at facing a legendary master was quickly overwritten by his desire to prove himself. "Bring it on," he smiled.

Croc backed away and sat himself on top of a broken pillar while Ox and Chou took their positions on top of the taijitu, which would serve as their arena. They unsheathed their weapons and started to circle each other, each looking for an opening in their opponent.

Ox was the first to attack, coming in low with his dual axes. Chou countered with his dao swords, blocking the axes before they could touch him and aiming a strike at Ox's side. The bovine dodged away from it and swung again. Chou ducked the swings this time and came up with his swords, forcing Ox to block.

Croc watched them go at it from the sidelines. He felt obliged to root for his fellow master, but objectively, either of them could win. Ox held the advantage in size and power, but Chou's weapons gave him more range and he was much quicker on his feet. He was actually holding his own better than any of the Lang Qun they had fought previously. He couldn't tell if that was because he was actually better than them, or just a lot more determined.

As the two warriors clashed again, their blades interlocked and they were left at a standstill. In this situation, Ox had the clear advantage and started to push against Chou's blades, slowly shoving the wolf back towards the edge of the taijitu. Ox thought the match was as good as won when Chou suddenly stopped resisting and fell backwards onto the floor. The unexpected move made Ox stumble forward and Chou immediately whirled around to his back to try and kick him out. Ox turned around and blocked the kick with an axe at the last second.

"Nice try," he smirked.

"Dang. I thought I had you there." Chou was clearly enjoying himself and his words showed no real frustration. "But you gotta admit, I'm a lot better than you thought, right?"

"Yeah," Ox indeed admitted. "You're good all right. Especially for..." He stopped himself there before he could say something that might be taken as offensive.

But the damage was done and Chou no longer smiled, now glaring at the large master. "Especially for a _wolf. _That's what you were going to say, right?"

"I didn't mean it like-"

"Yes you did!" Chou attacked again, swinging his swords furiously at Ox, his words punctuated by the sounds of clashing blades. "You think that most of us are just stupid, savage brutes, don't you?! Just like all the rest! That's how it's always been in Gongmen City!"

"Hold on a minute!" Ox interrupted him, now offended himself. "Gongmen is a peaceful, equal-opportunity city! We do not promote speciesism!"

"Who are you kidding?!" Chou snapped, continuing on his offensive. Ox struggled to keep up with him. "You never cared about the wolves, not even when we were serving as the royal guard! My father told me all about how the people walked all over us, pulled their children away from us in fear, didn't treat us with the slightest respect as we fought for your lives! I may not have been part of the generation that joined up with Shen, but I can see why they did it! At least he _pretended _to give a damn!"

With those last furious words, Chou pushed Ox onto his back outside the taijitu. "Looks like I win," the wolf said, not sounding the least bit satisfied by his victory. While Ox slowly got back up, Chou walked away and sat himself down at the other end of the room, facing away from them. Ox went over and sat by Croc, who seemed to be having trouble finding something to say. Before he could manage it, Ox spoke up first.

"Croc, we _are _the good guys here...right?"


	10. Fight Fire With Fire

_This was originally going to be one chapter until it started getting ridiculously long for my standards and I decided to split it. So now you get one more cliffhanger than you would have before! Yay!_

* * *

Chapter 10: Fight Fire With Fire

The silence in the Undercity was even heavier than usual. Chou had still not budged from his spot across the room and Ox and Croc both knew that this was something that needed to be resolved soon. It was only a matter of time until the Lang Qun showed up and that was going to be an uphill battle already without this conflict between teammates.

"You need to apologize," Croc stated bluntly.

"Oh come on," Ox protested. "You know I didn't mean anything by what I said."

"Yes, but he doesn't. And I honestly can't blame him. I mean, it's no secret that wolves are one of the most heavily discriminated against species in all of China. You probably opened a lot of old wounds for him."

Ox looked away, starting to feel really guilty. "...Alright. I'll apologize. I'm not really good at that kind of thing though."

He got up and walked over to where Chou was sitting, trying to make his casual hoofsteps as loud as possible in order not to startle him. He must have been pretty lost in his thoughts as Ox still saw him jump a little when he sat down next to him.

"Uh...hey." Ox wanted to slap himself. Was that really the best he could come up with?

"Hey..."

Ox wasn't good at apologies and he also wasn't good at beating around the bush. "Look...I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I know," he said, surprising him. "I'm sorry too for...well, losing it. It's kind of a sensitive issue with me."

Ox started drawing circles in the ground with his hoof, unsure about whether or not he should press the issue. It wasn't a decision he had to make as Chou continued, speaking softly. "Like I said, I wasn't born yet when my pack still lived in Gongmen, so I can't say I really understood what went on there, but I know a lot of guys who did."

"Was it really that bad?" Ox asked. He didn't know what really happened either, since he and his friends had come to the city long after Shen's banishment. And most of the information they had learned about the incident was about Shen, not the wolves that followed him.

"According to them, yes. And I wasn't totally free from it either. Any time I entered a town or walked into a store, I always got these...looks. Like everyone was expecting me to try to rob them at any moment. I mean, I _was _technically a criminal by association with Shen, but I don't think most of them knew that. That's actually why I joined the Lang Qun in the first place. Hui promised to make us 'civilized' and 'respectable' and I couldn't turn that down. I don't know if you really understand, but..."

"Don't worry, I understand," Ox reassured him. "So, we're cool?"

Chou smiled. "Yeah, we're cool." The two did a small fist-bump and broke out into laughter. Suddenly, Chou stopped laughing and his nose shot into the air, sniffing around rapidly. Ox stopped as well, getting a very good idea what this was about. Chou confirmed his fears a moment later.

"The Lang Qun. They're close."

* * *

As soon as Croc saw his allies running frantically back towards him, he knew instantly what was going on. They quickly chose an ideal hiding spot on the roof of one of the more intact buildings and crouched down low, waiting. "Are you sure it's them?" Croc asked Chou, somewhat redundantly.

"It's a large group of wolf scents traveling together, along with a strong scent of gunpowder. Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Quiet!" Ox whispered harshly "I think I hear them." They all went silent and listened closely. Because of how quiet the Undercity normally was, it took little effort to hear the Lang Qun's approach. They entered the room through a doorway to the far right. Kai Hui was at the front of the group, looking as refined as ever, followed closely by several rows of Lang Qun soldiers marching in steady formation.

But what came next was what really drew their attention. Cannons, a half-dozen of them, were wheeled into the room one by one. That was unmistakably what they were, yet they were distinctly different from the ones they remembered. While Shen's cannons were modeled after various predatory animals, every single one of the Lang Qun variety was wolf-shaped.

"That's...a lot of wolves," Croc whispered nervously.

Ox gripped the edge of the roof tightly. "And those cannons look like no joke either."

"Hold on, there's one other scent I'm getting," Chou said, sniffing around the air a bit more. "Smells like...a fox."

They both paled, getting the implication instantly. "You have got to be kidding me. Not _him_ too," Ox groaned. They had only just recovered from the injuries they got from him last time.

"Sure enough." Croc pointed at the back of the crowd. Taking a nap on top of one of the cannons, one leg dangling over the side, was Jin the Assassin. "Not to tempt fate again, but I'm pretty sure this couldn't possibly get any worse."

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it_ now_," Chou warned. "Or else they're gonna march straight past us and into Gongmen."

Ox looked across the crowd, using his powers of analysis to detect weaknesses of a different kind. He smiled. "Then it's a good thing I finally have a plan."

* * *

The Lang Qun continued their march through the square, drawing ever closer to conquest with each step. One of the wolves at the very back wandered just a little too close to the ruins and was suddenly yanked out of the crowd by a strong pair of hooves. He was knocked out with only a dull thump and the others were none the wiser. A few seconds later, another wolf was pulled from the crowd, followed by two more.

It was tempting to see if they could take out the entire army like this, but the trio's goal was only to get rid of the wolves that stood between them and the giant death machine known as a cannon. Just as one of the wolves wheeling it in noticed that there was no longer anyone behind him, he was violently bashed over the head by Croc's tri bo yao. The others were quickly taken out in the same manner and now the two masters plus wolf were in control of a cannon.

The rest of the army had become aware of their presence by now and started to rush them when Ox swiftly lit a torch and held it above the fuse. "Freeze!"

They froze. None of them were willing to be the guy that got blown apart for trying to be the hero.

This had now caught Hui's attention, and the Alpha wolf hopped on top of the frontmost cannon to look at them. He seemed decidedly unimpressed. "Is this really the best you could come up with?" He shook his head condescendingly. "And here I was worried that you might actually be a threat. What are you planning to do? Hold the entire Lang Qun hostage with one cannon?"

"Haven't we already covered that I don't do negotiations?" Ox smirked and promptly lit the fuse. The Lang Qun immediately scattered to the sides to get out of the path of the cannon. They had plenty of time and training to get to safety, so no one was in the line of fire when it went off.

The next cannon down the line however, was directly in it's path.

"No!" Hui gasped, realizing all too late what they were up to.

The cannonball shot out of the barrel and soared through the crowd of shocked wolves to strike the cannon right in the back. What Ox had detected earlier was a structural weakness. Cannons had pretty tough plating, but another cannon could easily destroy one. And so it did, blowing the machine to pieces and scattering it with the rest of the ruins.

Taking advantage of the resulting chaos, Ox scooted to the back and kicked the ground as hard as he could, rocketing their cannon forward on its wheels. The Lang Qun continued to panic and scatter as Hui desperately tried to bring them back under control.

Croc, holding a large box of ammo, passed another cannonball to Ox. "Can I just say that this is the most insane plan you have ever come up with?"

"At times like this, insane plans are the only ones that work!" He shoved the cannonball into the barrel, lit the fuse, and watched as the next cannon in the line exploded.

Hui, who had given up on trying to restore order, instead yelled to the most useless mercenary he had ever worked with. "Jin, do something!"

The fox, having somehow managed to sleep through the explosions, only started to awaken now. "Huh...whazzat?" He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, giving him a clear view of the cannonball heading towards his sleeping spot next. "HOLY PISS-STAIN!" He practically dove off of the cannon as it exploded, landing head over heels in a pile of rubble.

Hui slapped his forehead. "Why did I hire him again? Why?"

It was at this point that the Lang Qun finally calmed down enough to retaliate. As the speeding cannon passed by, two sword-wielding wolves managed to leap on top of it. With Ox and Croc both busy manning the cannon, it was up to Chou to fend them off. He used his dao swords to block the swings of his former packmates, but was unable to land any blows of his own. Not until one of them suddenly stopped attacking and stared at him in recognition. "...Chou?"

Chou brought up a foot and kicked Lu off the cannon. "Sorry!...Again!" The other wolf wasn't so hesitant and struck at him again, but Chou now easily disarmed him and knocked him off as well. "How we doing up there?" he called back. The sound of a fourth explosion answered his question.

There were only two cannons left now: theirs and Hui's.

"So that's how you want to play," Hui said, his voice dangerously low. "Fine. I'm willing to make sacrifices for the sake of my brethren." He grabbed a torch off of one of his wolves and lit the fuse on his own cannon. The masters' cannon was lit as well and the two cannonballs shot out of them at the same time. They collided in midair, creating another explosion that threw the Lang Qun to the ground and formed a large cloud of smoke.

Hui watched the smoke closely, not able to hear anything over all of the other sounds around him. The first thing he saw was a faint shadow, and then the other cannon came roaring out of the smoke, the three riders still perfectly intact and already having another cannonball loaded and aimed straight at him.

Hui's eyes widened.

"On it!"

Jin the Assassin threw himself in between the two cannons and pointed a crossbow at the approaching one. Right as the cannon was about to fire, Jin shot an explosive bolt into its mouth.

* * *

"Unbelievable. Five cannons destroyed!" Hui paced back and forth angrily, venting his frustrations to everyone around him.

"Hey, at least we got em," Jin said. "Bet yer happy that ya hired me _now, _huh?"

"Hmph," Hui grunted, not willing to acknowledge that.

The trio of Ox, Croc, and Chou were in front of him, all of them heavily chained and forced onto their knees. They were all covered in burns from the exploding cannon they had just been riding on, as well as some minor bruises when they were forcefully thrown off, but otherwise looked no worse for wear. Hui walked over and looked down at them. "You really thought you could stop us, didn't you? All by yourselves? You certainly are a tenacious pair, I'll give you that. But now I finally have you in my grasp."

"Yeah, but good luck taking Gongmen City with one cannon," Ox taunted.

"One cannon will be plenty with how afraid the people are of those things, especially without their precious masters to reassure them. And I can easily produce more now that I have the blueprints." Ox and Croc looked down dejectedly. "As for _you_," Hui turned his attention to Chou, who refused to meet his gaze. "I can't believe that a member of my own pack would betray me like this." He almost seemed saddened about it.

Chou perked up a little. "You...still consider me a member of the pack?"

Hui smiled, in a surprisingly warm manner. "Of course. You might have a few bad habits, but you're still Lang Qun as far as I'm concerned. And I would be happy to accept you back as long as you swear your loyalty to me."

Chou looked up and smiled back at him. Ox and Croc both watched him anxiously, wondering if he was about to turn on them. But as they soon learned, he was smiling for an entirely different reason. "In that case, I still have all the rights of a pack member, don't I?"

Hui cocked his head to the side. "What are you getting at?"

The look Chou flashed him next was one of pure defiance.

"Kai Hui, I hereby challenge you for the title of pack Alpha!"


	11. Alpha

_Dark chapter is dark. Seriously, this is probably the main reason that I gave this story a T rating._

* * *

Chapter 11: Alpha

The challenge rang out loud through the caverns of the Undercity, drawing everyone around into silence. Except for Jin, who came off with an "Oh, snap!" somewhere in the background.

Up until now, Kai Hui had seemed more like a disappointed parent scolding a child, but now he started to regard Chou much more seriously, a deep frown forming on his muzzle. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Exactly as I said. I'm challenging you for the title of Alpha. You must accept my challenge or else you forfeit it." Chou's voice held no fear whatsoever. Only determination.

Hui paused for a long moment before he nodded. "If you insist. I will give you your challenge." He snapped his fingers and the Lang Qun surrounding Chou lifted him onto his feet and removed the chains.

Ox and Croc could only watch in silent horror as the wolves formed a ring around the taijuitu in the center of the room. The two of them were lifted up as well and carried to the edge of the makeshift arena before being forced back down again. From here, they could clearly see Chou and Hui facing each other from opposite sides.

"What is that idiot thinking?" Ox shook his head. "He doesn't seriously think he can take on Hui, right?"

"You don't think he's doing this for _us_, do you?" Croc asked anxiously.

"Relax, guys," Jin said from behind them, putting his paws on top of their heads and turning them to face forward. "Just sit back and enjoy the show. After all, it's gonna be the last one ya ever see before I take yer heads." From their current positions, they had no choice but to do just that. They certainly couldn't relax though. Even if they hadn't known him for very long, they considered Chou a friend and worried for his safety.

The wolf tossed his dao swords behind him, as such weapons were not allowed in this duel, and crouched into a kung fu stance as he stared down Hui. The current Alpha still didn't seem quite sure what to make of all this and remained in his casual, arms folded behind the back, stance. "I'll ask you again. What do you think you're doing? You can't beat me. I taught you everything you know."

"Not everything," Chou countered. "I still have the skills I learned before I joined you."

"Oh? And what would those 'skills' be?"

"How to fight like a _real _wolf." Hui grit his teeth at that comment, but had no time to give a comeback as Chou charged straight for him and threw a punch.

As Ox and Croc watched Chou, they realized what he meant by skills he learned before the Lang Qun. The fighting style he used now was a blend of refined kung fu techniques and the rougher movements of typical streetfighting. No wonder they felt such kinship with him.

Not that any of it actually worked. Just like their encounter in the fireworks factory, Hui became a living blur, effortlessly dodging every punch and kick that Chou threw at him while barely moving a muscle. "What _is _that technique?" Croc thought aloud.

"It's called 'Fleetfoot'," Hui answered, glancing over at them while still dodging around Chou. "I can harness my chi energy to enhance my movements to the point where I can move faster than any mortal body should allow. To put it simply, it makes me..." he finally raised a paw and caught Chou's next punch, smirking at him. "...untouchable." He kicked Chou to the floor.

The younger wolf clutched his side as Hui came over, looking down at him pitifully. "Do you see how futile this is yet? Why don't you stop this foolishness and join back up with me already?"

Chou suddenly shot up with an uppercut that, to everyone's surprise, actually succeeded in nailing Hui under the chin. The blow was so powerful that it threw him off the ground and onto his back. "Who's untouchable, now?" Chou smirked.

Hui raised his arm to his mouth and glared viciously when he saw a few drops of blood stain his paw. "You have just bitten off more than you can chew, brat."

Jin laughed. "Aw man, this is getting good! Someone shoulda' brought snacks."

Both wolves rose up again, now equally incensed. This time it was Hui who attacked first, using Fleetfoot to vanish from his spot without warning and punching Chou in the face before he could react. Chou snarled and made an attempt to punch him back, but Hui sidestepped and kneed him in the side, cracking his armor and sending him stumbling backwards. By the time he regained his footing, Hui was suddenly behind him and he was kicked to the floor once again. Chou struggled to get back up, coughing up some blood.

"Chou, give up!" Ox found himself shouting. "You can't win!"

He was joined not by Croc, but by another wolf. "Please Chou, give up!" Lu called out from the sidelines, fear and worry evident in his voice.

"You should listen to your friends," Hui advised, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You should really, _really_, listen to them."

Chou coughed again and glared. "Sorry, I was never good at following orders." He had only made it up onto all-fours, but used this position to lunge at Hui, catching him off-guard again and sinking his fangs deep into his leg.

"Aggh! Filthy mongrel!" Hui screamed, using his other leg to kick Chou off of him. He didn't even wait for him to get back up this time and kicked him again, sending him tumbling out of the arena, past the Lang Qun and into the wall of a ruined building. The wall couldn't take the impact and collapsed on top of him.

"Chou has left the arena," Lu hastily announced from the sidelines. "That means the winner is Hui-"

"Shut up!" Hui snapped at him. "I am the Alpha here! It's over when I _say _it's over!"

Limping slightly on his wounded leg, Hui made his way over to Chou, who was just starting to pull himself out from the rubble. Even from their limited vantage point, Ox and Croc could see that he looked like an absolute mess now, his armor shattered in several places and his body caked with blood and bruises. By the way he labored just to breathe, they guessed that some of his ribs had probably been broken as well. "Hui, stop already!" Ox yelled. "He's beaten!"

Hui ignored him, reaching down and grabbing Chou by the back of his head. "Why do you persist in defying me?" he demanded. "Can't you see what I am trying to do? All I have done, all I have _ever _done, is for the betterment of our species! Why can't you see that?"

Chou looked up at him and, despite the circumstances, he started laughing, blood spilling from his mouth as he did. "Because I know who you are."

"...What?"

"You think I've never heard about you before? Kai Hui, the guy that my dad used to pick on when he was little." He coughed a little more. "You can pretend all you want that you're in control. That you're running the show. But you know what?" His gaze hardened. "At the end of the day, you're no Alpha. You're just that nerdy little pup who could never fit in."

That was the last straw for Hui. His eyes lit up in a fiery rage they had never seen from him before. He dragged Chou over to one of the larger rocks and slammed his head into it. "You think so, do you?! You think that you're better than me?!"

He pulled his head back and slammed it into the rock again.

"I am the Alpha!"

And again.

"This is _my _pack! MINE!"

And again.

"And I will not be told otherwise by some uncultured, half-evolved trash like _you!_"

*CRACK*

Everything froze. There was a horrible silence in the room as they all slowly began to process what just happened. Even Jin the Assassin lost his smirk and stared wide-eyed at the scene.

"No..." Ox gasped. Croc couldn't manage to say anything at all.

Hui glared down in contempt at the young wolf whose skull he had just caved in. "You brought this on yourself, you ingrate." He left Chou's lifeless body on the rubble, slowly forming a pool of blood, and walked back to his troops.

Though it was hard to tell how they felt behind their masks, the Lang Qun seemed conflicted over this incident, looking back and forth between themselves uncomfortably and murmuring to themselves. Lu made the mistake of voicing this aloud. "You didn't have to kill him..."

Hui stopped in his tracks right in front of him. "I didn't, did I? You are questioning my authority as well?"

The twisted look in his eyes kept Lu from saying what he clearly wanted to. "N-No...no, sir..."

"Good. Keep it that way. I am the Alpha. Don't any of you ever forget that again."

Just like that, Kai Hui returned to his normal self as if none of that had happened, despite his paws still being covered in Chou's blood. He moved back to the center of the arena and called out to the rest of the Lang Qun. "Let's move out." He whistled.

They didn't budge.

"Now!"

The Lang Qun, with some reluctance, began to head towards the exit of the chamber, wheeling the last remaining cannon. "Don't forget to bring _them," _he pointed to Ox and Croc. He then followed after them, still walking with a limp.

"Right, right. I got it," Jin said, hefting the two masters up. "...ya freaking psychopath," he muttered.

As they were walked out, they were forced to pass by the broken body of the wolf once known as Chou. As they did, they finally realized what that had all been about. "This was his plan," Ox said. "He never intended to defeat Hui. He just wanted to stand up to him and help break his control over the Lang Qun."

Croc nodded solemnly. "He sacrificed himself for the sake of his pack. He truly would have made a great Alpha."

They looked over their shoulders to see their lost friend one last time before they left the area.

"Rest in peace, Chou," Ox said softly. "Your death is _not _going to be in vain. Not if we can help it."


	12. Dreams

_You know what my favorite kind of villain is? The kind that has sympathetic traits, yet does such irredeemably evil things that you still want to see them go down hard. Lord Shen is a very good example of this type of villain and I've been trying hard to strike a similar balance with Kai Hui. Let me know what you think of him as a villain._

_For bonus points, guess who the other named wolves in Hui's flashback are supposed to be. Not that it's too hard to figure out. _

* * *

Chapter 12: Dreams

_It was hard to forget the day he first tried to fit in with his packmates. It was a memory that had been forever ingrained into his mind since it occurred, and one that subconsciously drove him through all the years to come. _

_He remembered vividly the way he had just stood there for a while, watching them wrestle with each other mere feet away from him. The others who watched this were all shouting cheers and encouragement, while Hui found himself unable to say a word. His legs wouldn't stop shaking and he could feel his tail drooped onto the ground behind him. He wanted to join in, to be one of the pack like his mother told him, but he had no idea how to do that._

_It was only a matter of time until one of the other wolves noticed him. "Hey, Laoban, get a load of pretty boy over here," he snickered. _

_One of the wolves in the middle of the scuffle looked up, now sitting on top of his opponent. This wolf was noticeably bigger than the others and more intimating. He wasn't the Alpha of course, but he seemed to be the leader of this group of pups. He had read once that it was common for wolf children to form miniature packs of their own within the larger one._

_The big wolf, Laoban, got off the other one and walked over to Hui, who couldn't decide whether he should say something or run like heck. "Well, look at you," he said. "All neat and trim." He looked him up and down some more, then sniffed a little. "And you smell too."_

"_I-I do?" Hui asked, finally managing to say something. "But I just took a bath this morning."_

_"Yeah, that would explain it. You reek of lemony bath soap." He grabbed Hui by the arm and lifted it up, sticking his nose in his underarm. "Geez, even your pits smell like a flower garden."_

_Hui was feeling profoundly uncomfortable. "And that's...bad?" _

"_Heck yes, it's bad!" Laoban laughed. "Clearly, you need some lessons on how to be a real wolf."_

_Hui perked up. Finally, a way in."Y-Yeah! That's what I want! Could you teach me?"_

"_Sure, kid!" Laoban roughly slapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over. By now, the other wolves were also interested in the newcomer and a few were coming over to check him out curiously. __Laoban grinned widely, already invested in his new teaching role. "Lesson 1: Cut down on the baths. Don't go overboard, just try to actually smell like a wolf instead of an air freshener. There's nothing wrong with a little dirt." To emphasize his point, he scooped up some mud and slapped it onto the front of Hui's shirt. _

_Hui winced, but nodded. Okay, be a little dirtier. That wouldn't be too hard, right?_

"_Lesson 2: Quit being so prissy. Wolves are all about primal expression. Let's hear a howl out of you."_

_"A-A howl?"_

_"Yeah, you know." Laoban threw his head back and let loose a loud howl that echoed across the neighborhood. "Now you try."_

_Hui had never really practiced howling before. He only really knew how to do it by instinct. But after some encouragement from the others, he took a deep breath and gave a howl that sounded pretty impressive...for the two seconds until he started coughing and sputtering._

_"Eh, we'll work on it," Laoban said. Hui smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all._

"_Lesson 3: Learn how to fight."_

_His eyes widened. "E-Excuse me?"_

"_You heard me. You know that we wolves are expected to join the royal guard someday, right? So consider this your training. Let's see how you do against Chin." He pointed to the wolf he had beaten before, only just getting up now. Chin saw him and smiled darkly. He was probably looking for a good way to make up for his defeat and wanted to take it out on him._

_Hui gulped. "B-But I d-don't want to fight. I w-want to be a scholar."_

_Laoban laughed and so did the others. "Ha! A wolf? A scholar? Dream on, kid! Even if you're smart enough, no one would ever let you be a scholar. Everyone thinks wolves are too dumb."_

"_You're wrong!" Hui yelled, his fists clenching angrily. How dare these imbeciles mock his dream. "I'm not like that! I'm way smarter than other wolves!"_

_They stopped laughing. Laoban was now glaring at him. "What, you think you're better than us?"_

_"Yes," he thought, but he wasn't about to say that out loud. "N-No," he timidly said instead. "I-I didn't mean it like that."_

_He must have not sounded convincing enough because they clearly didn't believe him. "Oh, I think you did," Laoban growled. "If you think you're so high and mighty, why don't you take on ALL of us?" The other wolves closed in to surround him._

_Hui started to panic. How could this have gone so wrong so quickly? He tried, he really tried, but he just couldn't fit in with the rest of the pack. He couldn't be like them._

"_Get him!" Laoban shouted. The wolves all leapt on him in an instant, easily pulling him to the ground. _

"_No!_ _Leave me alone!" Hui cried as they all started beating on him. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"_

"Leave me alone!"

Hui's eyes snapped open and he breathed heavily, trying to calm himself back down again.

He was sitting alone in lotus position atop the roof of Gongmen City's kung fu academy, his new home. Taking the city had proven even easier then expected. The moment the people saw the cannon, the wolves, and the chained masters Ox and Croc, their spirits were instantly crushed. The feeble antelopes that now made up the royal guard threw down their weapons at once and surrendered.

The city had been occupied for days now, the fireworks factory was up and running again, and the Lang Qun awaited his next orders. Everything was going exactly as planned.

So why was it that he continued to feel so tense? Even mediation wasn't helping, just resulting in visions of the past that he would much rather forget. That never used to happen to him before. He glanced down at his right leg, now bandaged after his fight with that traitor Chou. He couldn't still be bothered by that, could he? That incident had been resolved and the traitor punished. His limp was gone too and he could walk normally again, so why would something like that affect him so much?

"Hearing voices now? Don't worry, that tends to happen when ya go crazy."

Hui frowned. Perhaps he wasn't as alone up here as he thought. Indeed, Jin the Assassin took a seat next to him a moment later. "I am _not _going crazy."

"Suuuurrreee, ya ain't." Jin winked at him. "Ya know, insanity is kinda like freezing to death. Cold and painful at first, but then nice and comforting as ya slip away..."

Hui ignored the vulpine's rambling. "What do you want, assassin?"

"Well, to be frank, I was kinda wondering when ya were gonna let me do my job."

"You're referring to Ox and Croc?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to _kill _them, yet now they're sitting all cozy in a jail cell halfway across the city."

"Your job was to get them out of the way," Hui corrected. "And at that you have performed...sufficiently. I've already given you your payment."

"I told ya, I don't _care _about the money!" Jin snapped. "This is about my honor. I want a rematch with those two masters. A real one!"

"Forget it. I plan to execute those two in public later today. I need to make a firm statement to the world outside not to interfere."

Jin pouted and crossed his arms. "Interfere with _what?"_

On cue, another wolf came up onto the roof behind them. "Sir, we have assembled the civilians. They are ready for your announcement."

"Announcement?" Jin asked, getting more confused by the second. "Just what the heck are ya planning to do?

Hui looked up at the morning sky and smiled softly.

"I plan to make history."

* * *

"_Where am I?"_

_Master Storming Ox looked around in confusion. Last he remembered, he and Master Croc had been captured by the Lang Qun and were stuck in prison. But this was certainly not the prison. In fact, it bore a striking resemblance to...the bottom level of the Tower of Sacred Flame. _

_That only confused him further. The tower didn't exist anymore, and even if it did, how did he get inside of it? _

_He heard the front door of the tower open up behind him and turned around, expecting to see Croc walk in with him. But it wasn't Croc._

_It was Master Thundering Rhino._

"_...Master?" Ox was speechless. No way could Rhino really be here._

_And that's when he realized this was a dream. "I guess I'm just deluding myself at this point..." he said sadly, turning his back on this figment of his imagination._

_"I know what you're thinking," Rhino's voice said behind him. "But this is not just a dream. I have come to give you guidance, my friend."_

_Ox paused, slowly turning around again. "Wait...so it's really you?" He would be more skeptical about the idea of his deceased master talking to him in his dreams, but he was a close acquaintance of someone who regularly saw the future._

_"In a sense. Can you really say that a spirit is the same being as the body it inhabited?"_

"_Hey, don't go all Oogway on me now. If you're going to tell me what to do, I want to hear it straight." _

_He looked away. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."_

"_W-What? But-"_

_Rhino raised a hand to silence him._ "_Don't misunderstand. I want to save Gongmen City just as much as you and Croc, but I cannot move on with a clear conscience if I simply told you what to do. My time is over now, and you must show that you can protect the city without my help. You must end this crisis on your own."_

_Ox opened his mouth to argue, but realized that he was right. If they wanted to be true protectors, they couldn't keep relying on Master Rhino to bail them out. He bowed. "Yes, Master. I understand."_

"_All I can tell you is that there is still hope. You should know from the battle with Shen that even at the blackest times, you can still turn everything around. Do you want to save Gongmen City?"_

"_Yes," Ox answered without hesitation. _

"_Are you willing to give up your life to do so?"_

"_Yes." Technically, he had already tried to._

_He pounded a spiritual representation of his cloud hammer into the floor._ "_Then go out and fight! Never give up until you stop breathing!"_

"_Yes, Master."_

_Rhino nodded, satisfied with his pupil's response. "One more thing," he said. "Your old friend has something to tell you as well."_

_Ox looked up, his jaw dropping. "You mean...Chou?"_

"_Yes. Unfortunately, he cannot be here himself, but he told me to pass these words on to you." He cleared his throat and spoke in his best imitation of Chou's rough voice._

"_Kick Hui's ass."_

_Ox laughed. "Will do."_

_Rhino smiled and bowed to him, a gesture Ox would have protested had he been able to find the words. "Good luck, my friend. It's all up to you now."_

Ox woke up with a start, almost making him topple over from his sitting position

He looked around to see that he was back in the prison he remembered. He was heavily chained, barely letting him move a muscle aside from being able to rock back and forth a little. Croc was in a similar position, with even his dangerous tail chained down to keep him from moving it, and the spiked ball that normally hung on the end had been removed as well. The reptile woke up only moments later.

"Croc, you're never gonna believe what just happened to me! I-" He stopped as he got a good look at Croc's flabbergasted expression.

He was about to tell him the exact same thing. "You too?"

"Yes," Croc nodded. "I've heard that powerful masters could live on as spirits and enter the dreams of others, but having it actually happen to me is a different story." He shivered. "I'm getting chills just thinking about it."

"You're cold-blooded."

Croc choose to ignore that. "So...did he tell you the same thing?"

"That we need to keep fighting to the bitter end? Yeah. Did you get the Chou impression too?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "Kick Hui's ass. That was him all right."

"Wait, that's it!" Ox suddenly grew a lot more excited. "The reason we've been struggling all this time is because we've been under the impression that we needed to defeat the Lang Qun. But we don't."

"...We don't?"

"No! Don't you see? If there's anything we learned from Chou's sacrifice, it's that Kai Hui is the glue holding that entire group together. We take down Hui, we take down the Lang Qun!"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Croc grinned. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go take him down!"

The masters spent a few moments struggling in their chains before realizing that, despite their heroic inspiration, they were still stuck. They stopped struggling and slumped back over again. "Well, it was a nice idea..." Croc sighed.

As they went silent, they could pick up a faint voice speaking in the distance. "Hey, do you hear that?" Ox asked.

Croc nodded and the two planted their ears to the wall, listening closely. They quickly recognized the voice.

"Is that Hui?"

* * *

Kai Hui looked out upon the assembled populace of Gongmen City. A sea of goat, bunny, and antelope faces looked back at him, most of them showing clear nervousness. A makeshift stage had been prepared for him, where he proudly displayed his new cannon and a row of Lang Qun just as extra incentive to listen to what he had to say.

He walked up to the podium and spoke loudly, projecting his voice across the crowd. "Greetings, citizens of Gongmen City. As you well know, I am Kai Hui, leader of the Lang Qun and the new ruler of this city. I have been in this position for only days, yet I am aware that this has caused you all much anxiety. For that, I apologize."

He paused and waited for the crowd to stop murmuring between themselves. No doubt, they were surprised by how elegant he was for a wolf. "I am here now to tell you what exactly I intend to do with this city. First, the good news. Let me assure you that I do not intend to force you into slavery, conscript you into my army, or oppress you as Lord Shen did." That got a lot of relief from the crowd, and he paused again to let them appreciate it.

"Now for the bad news. I require all of you to leave my city at once."

That comment shocked them so much that no one made a sound for a moment. The moment after that was near-pandamonium. Hui tried to calm them down, but after this proved futile, he sighed and snapped his fingers. One of the nearby Lang Qun lit the cannon and fired it into the air, silencing the crowd instantly. "As I was saying, I need all of you to vacate as soon as possible. I realize this is a heavy burden, but a necessary one. For you see, I am about to turn this city into something that has never been imagined before."

Hui's voice rose even higher as he was overwhelmed by his own passion. "For too long, my kind had been subjected to the harshest discrimination, believing us to be unfit for civilized society! But under my leadership, that is no longer that case! I have built the greatest wolf pack ever to grace China, and that kind of glory should not be kept to ourselves! That is why, as of today, Gongmen City is no more! I am creating the world's first lupine city..."

He looked up and shouted into the heavens.

"...Chengshi de Lang!"


	13. Chengshi de Lang

_I'm back in school now, which unfortunately means that my updates are going to be much less frequent, especially with me still updating my other story. The good news is that I'm getting pretty close to finishing this. There should only be a few more chapters after this one._

_By the way, Chengshi de Lang means "city of the wolves"._

* * *

Chapter 13: Chengshi de Lang

"_That's _his plan? Turn Gongmen into a wolf city? He's insane." Ox lifted himself off of the wall as he and Croc finished listening to Hui's speech.

"What was your first clue?" Croc asked, shaking his head. "By the sounds of things, he's planning to bring a whole bunch of other wolf packs into the city and merge them together into one happy society. I'm no wolf expert, but even I know that would never work."

"Yeah, he'd sooner destroy the whole city then..." Ox paused and his eyes widened. "The Soothsayer's vision! That's exactly what's going to happen if we don't do something!" He thrashed back and forth and screamed in rage, but the chains remained just as tight as ever. "DAMNIT! If only we could get out of here!"

There was a small clatter as an object hit the floor in front of them. "That's the key ring!" Croc gasped. They looked up at the door to their cell, hoping to catch a glimpse of their rescuer, but there was no one there.

Ox glared at the keys lying on the floor a few feet in front of them. "Seems they forgot we lack arms. If someone was going to rescue us, you'd think they would take the extra step and actually, you know, _rescue us."_

"Calm down, I think I can get them." Croc awkwardly shuffled close to the keys and grabbed at them with his foot. "Urrgh...why did the gods have to give us reptiles such scrawny legs?" He finally managed to grasp the ring between his toes and tossed it up to into his claws. After a few moments of trying every key in the lock on his arm, he got one that fit and undid it. He quickly removed the rest of the locks and chains covering him, then did the same for Ox.

The bovine stood up and stretched out. "Ahhhhh, that's better. Now let's get going."

They snuck over to the door just in case there were still guards outside, but they found the two wolves guarding them knocked out on the floor. They weren't about to count their blessings just yet and scowered the building for their confiscated weapons. But the Lang Qun were either very confident they couldn't escape or they were too busy trying to run their new city, because they didn't find a single other guard around.

Ox and Croc walked out of the building, now wielding their dual axes and tri bo yao again, as well as Croc's spiked tail-ball. Ox brandished the axes in front of him. "Alright, let's take back our city."

* * *

The Soothsayer wasn't too surprised when a pair of Lang Qun came into her room and "escorted" her to the central chamber of the academy. There must have been a reason why she was the only non-wolf not being kicked out of the city, and she had a pretty good idea what that reason was. Her suspicions were confirmed as she saw her seeing tools in the middle of the floor, along with a smiling Kai Hui. The Alpha wolf took a sip from a cup of tea as his guards left them alone. "Good morning, Soothsayer. I hope my boys weren't too rough with you."

She sighed. "I'm being forced to divine for another tyrant, I see."

"I am no tyrant. I am a savior."

"And one just as deluded..."

He frowned slightly. "Think what you will. Now, kindly see into my future for me." He held out a patch of gray fur. "This should suffice, yes?"

She sighed again. "Yes. Throw them in." She was getting really sick of doing this lately.

He tossed in his fur, the Soothsayer threw in her powder, and the divining ritual began. She was expecting to see the image of Gongmen City going up in flames again, though she doubted that would change Hui's mind at all, but she instead got an image of the wolf himself, standing proudly much like he was right now. Hui stared at his own image curiously as it zoomed in and went black. Out of the blackness, he saw his own icy blue eyes open up, but something about them seemed...different somehow. He couldn't quite put a finger on it. He took another sip of his tea. "Not what I was expecting, but interesting nonetheless. What does it mean?"

"I foresee, that in the near future, you are going to become one with your inner self." After she was done speaking, the smoke dissipated and the room cleared again.

"...Wait, that was it?"

"That was it."

Hui shook his head in frustration. "Unacceptable. We're doing it again."

"A pointless effort. You will only get the same result."

The wolf glared at her, his paws starting to shake, and the tea along with it."I am trying to build the first lupine city, reinvent my entire species, and you're telling me that the only thing you can see in my future is me finding my center?!"

"Yes."

Hui slammed a foot down into the middle of her fortune-telling bowl, destroying it. "And I just got a new one," she said sadly.

"I can see why Shen got rid of you." he said coldly. "You're useless. Get out of my city!" The Soothsayer bowed politely and exited the building.

Hui huffed and went to sip from his tea again. But his paw was still shaking uncontrollably, spilling the drink as he tried to bring it to his lips. "Blasted thing!" He whipped the teacup into the wall and sat down in mediation once again. As he tried to gently breathe in and out, his breath kept catching and various parts of his body continued to shake. Giving up on that idea too, he got back up and started pacing around the room, repeatedly telling himself that everything would be fine.

So what if he couldn't see his future? He was just going to have to _make _it.

* * *

Ox and Croc stayed in the shadows as they ducked from alleyway to alleyway, trying to avoid the gaze of the Lang Qun occupying Gongmen City, or "Chengshi de Lang" as it was now called. The task was easier than they expected as the wolves were busy escorting flocks of citizens out of the city. The former royal guard was helping with this as well, probably finding it easier than trying to resist. As much as the masters tried to stay focused on their goal, it was hard to ignore the sorrowful expressions on all their faces.

"That monster," Ox growled. "Some of these people didn't even have homes _inside_ the city and now he's kicking them out."

"Maybe they'll find another place to move into," Croc suggested optimistically, but it was clear he didn't really believe that. It was a long walk to the next nearest town and most of them weren't too open about taking in large groups of people.

"Let's just keep moving," Ox said. "The sooner we take back the city, the sooner we can save those people."

They did just that, continuing to evade the guards while forcing themselves to ignore the plight of their citizens. Eventually, they found themselves looking at their former home in the kung fu academy, now serving as the Lang Qun stronghold. Just from their spot in an alleyway, they saw a long row of wolf archers standing on the outer wall of the building, and they caught a few glimpses of the ones on the ground as they passed by. There were a lot.

"Great, now he's getting paranoid," Ox said, shaking his head. "There's no way we're sneaking in there. We have no choice but to fight them head on."

"There has to be at least thirty of them there," Croc said, biting his lip. "That's the most we've ever had to face."

"You're not chickening out now, are you?" Ox asked teasingly.

"Of course not. Let's go get em'."

The archers on the wall walked back and forth, patrolling mindlessly and occasionally looking out over the side. One guard paused in his work as he saw something odd out of the corner of his vision. He lifted a telescope to his eye and scanned the rooftops until he saw the object again. It appeared to be a large barrel...flying right at his face. He barely had time to yelp before the barrel hit him head on and knocked him off the wall. The other guards went on alert and looked around frantically, but this didn't keep two more from being knocked over by a large crate.

"Over there!" an archer shouted, pointing his bow at a green form on the rooftops. That something "over there" soon became "right here" as Croc leapt onto the wall and closed his wide mouth around the wolf's torso before he could fire. His armor kept him safe from Croc's predatory teeth as the reptile spun around and blocked a few arrows with his hide, then flung him into his companions. The last remaining archer aimed his bow at Croc from behind, but was stopped when Ox dropped down on him from above. By now, the guards below were well-alerted and rushing up to corner them on the wall. Just as they started to get close, the duo jumped down, landing on two more wolves and brandishing their weapons.

Ox quickly attacked a pair of wolves with his axes, driving their swords back and then downing them with a kick and a headbutt respectively. As two wolves came from each side, Ox tossed the axes up into the air, grabbed the wolves by the backs of their heads, slammed their faces together hard enough to shatter their masks, and tossed them to the ground as he caught the axes again. This was an even more aggressive style than he was used to, but fast and aggressive was what they needed to have any chance of pulling this off. In a prolonged fight, they would have no chance.

Croc was having a slightly easier time with his tri bo yao. The three-part staff was known for being a confusing and unpredictable weapon and he was using that to his advantage against the Lang Qun, who had clearly not been trained to counter it. The two maces attached to each end of the staff, and the one on Croc's tail, struck out at the wolves around him, taking out several. The remaining few banded together and rushed him at once, only to be run down by a rickshaw Ox had kicked at them. "Let's go!" he shouted, rushing forward.

Ox and Croc made a beeline for the alleyway that led to the upper entrance of the academy, running on what could best be called "suicidal determination". Soon, the wooden double-doors were mere feet in front of them.

"Yes! We made it!"

Four wolves dropped down in front of them, blocking the door. They turned to go back and saw five more in the way. They couldn't even escape upwards as the wolves formed a perimeter around the rooftops. Despite their best efforts, they were surrounded.

Croc looked up at them, not as surprised as he felt he should've been. "...To be frank, this is still a lot better than I thought we'd do."

"Hey, Croc?" Ox smiled at his companion. "It's been great having you as a partner."

He smiled back. "Yeah. We had some good times."

They readied their weapons again as the wolves closed in. They couldn't hope to beat them all, but they could at least go down fighting.

A loud whistle rang out and the Lang Qun stopped in their tracks. Ox and Croc looked around, waiting for Kai Hui to walk out of the shadows.

It was an entirely different wolf who walked out instead. "Hey, aren't you Chou's friend?" Ox asked.

"Lu," the wolf introduced himself. "Nice to formally meet you guys."

Lu whistled again and the Lang Qun stood up straight, as motionless as statues. Croc gaped. "You mean these guys will listen to _anyone?!_"

"If they know the right commands, yes," Lu nodded. "I've been watching Hui closely for years. Enough to study the techniques he uses down to the letter. Of course, I didn't dare use them before there was a real chance of stopping him." The masters were stunned. If they needed further proof that Hui was a false Alpha, they had it right here. They weren't bound to _him_, just his ingrained commands.

"Don't worry, that chance has come," Ox said. "We're going to avenge your friend, Lu."

"He wasn't just my friend." Lu reached up and pulled the mask from his face, revealing a familiar pair of light green eyes. "He was my brother. And I know that you'll avenge him."

Lu turned around and walked away, followed by the other wolves. "I'll try to slow down the rest of the Lang Qun. You guys get in there and kick Hui's ass."

"Heh heh, they really are brothers," Croc chuckled as they watched him leave. "So...are you ready?"

"Like you even have to ask."

They turned around and faced the large double-doors. This was it. They were going to defeat Kai Hui or die trying.

Giving one last nod to each other, they kicked down the doors.


	14. Instincts

_Okay, so we're not...quite at the final battle yet. Don't hate me._

* * *

Chapter 14: Instincts

"Why are you still here?"

Hui glared at his unwelcome guest, but Jin the Assassin was not one to be intimidated. "What? Can't a guy stick around to see the big show?"

"There is no show. It's over. I've won. Your job is finished and, as of now, only wolves are allowed in this city. So get out."

"Wolves? Is _that _what you call this mob of yours? Ah ha ha ha ha!" Jin doubled over in a fit of laughter, slapping his side. He stopped laughing and rose back up again, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "These are no wolves. They're just mindless sheep under yer command. Which would make _you _a sheepdog."

Hui's gaze darkened considerably. "I won't say this again. Leave. Now."

"Or what?" Jin challenged. "Ya gonna kill me? Just like the last guy who stopped putting up with yer crap?"

Hui took a step forward, considering just that, when a loud noise of splintering wood stopped him. Both canines looked up as the academy's front doors came flying over the upper ledge and onto the floor. They were soon followed by Masters Ox and Croc, landing on top of the doors and destroying them further. Ox looked up at them. "Hope we're not interrupting anything."

Any serious composure that Jin had before was lost as he burst out laughing again. "Ha ha, not at all! In fact, yer right on time!"

Hui's eye twitched. "You again? How many times do I have to beat you before you realize you've lost?"

"As long as we're still alive, we haven't lost."

"_You_, on the other hand, are going down," Croc smiled.

"Is that so?" Hui looked between the two masters, then crouched down and dashed straight at them using Fleetfoot.

Ox and Croc readied themselves to counter him, but the Alpha passed right through them and reappeared at the lower door behind them. He turned his head towards Jin. "If you want to kill them so badly, fine. Just get them out of my way!" He ran out the door.

"No! We can't let him get away again!" Ox growled. He looked between Jin and the open door, desperately trying to decide on a course of action.

Croc made the decision for him. "Go. Take him down. I'll handle fox boy."

"But-"

"Remember what Master Rhino told us? We both promised to lay down our lives for this city if we had to, and I fully intend to keep that promise. What about you?"

Ox gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but he could come up with no counterargument. "...Alright. But don't you _dare _die!" Ox dropped to all-fours and took off after Hui.

"Very noble speech," Jin said. "I just hope ya really _are _prepared to die."

"I am," Croc dropped into his fighting stance. "But that doesn't mean I intend to."

"Good." Jin brought up both crossbows and started spinning them around in his paws, getting faster and faster. He looked at them almost affectionately. "Because against my partners 'Zei' and 'Lang' here, yer gonna need to be at yer best if ya want any chance at all." He stopped spinning the crossbows and pointed them both at his target.

"Now come on! I could use a new pair of boots!"

* * *

As soon as he got outside, Ox jumped up onto a roof and honed his acute eyesight towards the sole purpose of finding Kai Hui. By now, the city was nearly a ghost town, which made this job much easier. After scanning past a few of the lesser Lang Qun, he caught sight of the Alpha tearing through an alleyway. Jumping across a few more rooftops, Ox dropped down into the alleyway, attempting to cut him off. Hui noticed his descent at the last moment and promptly used Fleetfoot, dashing underneath him before he hit the ground. "Obnoxiously persistent as ever, Master Ox. Let's see if you can keep up."

Ox wasted no time and was after him again as soon as his hooves touched the cobblestone. He charged after him on all-fours while Hui stayed on two legs, but his Fleetfoot technique kept him well out of reach. Even with his keen eyes, he could barely see him at all, the wolf appearing only as a series of brief flashes. It was only by using Hui's bushy tail as a focal point that he managed to keep sight of him.

As they passed by a group of four Lang Qun, Hui gave a whistle and they jumped in between them to block Ox's path. "Out of my way!" He titled his head to the right and rammed the leftmost wolf in the side, sending him into the other three and knocking them down like dominoes. Before they even landed, Ox had left them in the dust and continued after Hui.

He knew that he couldn't possibly keep running like this for much longer, but he continued to push himself just to make it long _enough. _The fate of the entire city rested on him catching this wolf and he wasn't about to let anything stop him.

Hui clearly didn't understand how the bovine could still be keeping up with him and his attempts to lose him got increasingly more desperate. Dashing through a marketplace, Hui struck out at the stalls around him, spilling their goods onto the road. But mere produce did little to slow Ox down. It was very fortunate for him that there were no people around, the result of Hui's own ambitions working against him.

Clearing a pile of vegetables, Ox stuck his horns under a large pumpkin and flung it at the back of Hui's head. The squash bounced off his skull with a solid "thunk", which didn't stop him, but did piss him off. "Annoying pest!" He whirled around abruptly and struck Ox under the chin with a kick, the blow coming so quickly that he didn't register what happened until he was in the air. Ox caught himself on the ground and charged forward again, only losing a little bit of ground on his adversary.

Hui got to a fork in the road up ahead and Ox watched him closely to see whether he would go left or right. But he did neither, instead running straight up the building in front of him and over the roof. Ox knew that he would never catch up with him if he tried to go around, so he lowered his head, braced himself, and mentally apologized to whoever owned this building as he plowed straight through it.

The shortcut he had just created stuck him right behind Hui when he reached the other side. Hui panicked, as would anyone with an angry ox chasing them, and sped up even further, widening the distance again. Ox pushed himself to keep running, but the strain proved too much and he felt himself finally wearing down. He fell further and further behind until he had to stop, gasping for air. He looked up helplessly as Hui sped away up a large flight of stairs.

And that's when it happened.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!" Hui's bloodcurdling scream was accompanied by the wet sound of tearing muscle. He lost control and tripped, being carried up the rest of the stairs by his own momentum and stopping at the top. Ox could see a trial of blood coating the stairs and its source was Hui's bandaged right leg. "No! I thought that was healed!"

Ox got back up, getting his second wind. "Looks like Chou left more of a mark on you that we thought. That leg of yours may have been fine for a while, but you overtaxed it with all that 'Fleetfoot' nonsense. Too bad." Ox slammed his fists together and growled at him. "Now let's see how tough you are_ without_ your cheap trick!"

Hui's eyes widened and he ran away quickly, but much slower than before. Ox took only a moment to catch his breath and rushed up the stairs after him. When he reached the top, Hui was no where in sight, but a familiar gate standing in front of him left little doubt where he was. Ox walked up to the gate and kicked it open.

He was now standing back in the courtyard that he and Croc used for their training. The same courtyard that was once home to the Tower of Sacred Flame. The tower was still in ruins and everything else looked much the same as well, except the intimidating sight of the last remaining Lang Qun cannon sitting off to the side. No doubt Hui kept it here as a symbol of his conquest. The wolf himself stood on top of the sparring platform, facing away from him. He was noticeably putting more weight on his good leg and his other foot just barely touched the ground. He was eerily silent as Ox approached the platform, but he had no doubt that he sensed his presence. Finally, he spoke. "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Ox smirked. "Yeah, but your ego got in the way. Can't say I'm surprised. Your ego is behind this whole plan."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "This plan is for the betterment of the wolf species."

Ox shook his head. "I don't get you. You think you're so much better than all the other wolves, and yet you're going through all this trouble to be a part of them. Why even bother?"

"Do you think I _want _to?" Hui snapped, glaring at him over his shoulder. "You're right. Had I the choice, I would have disowned the rest of my species long ago. But I can't..." He clenched his fists tightly. "It's these damn instincts. They tell me that I must be a part of the pack, no matter how little I want to. Do you have any idea what that's like? To have your very _being_ force you away from the path you choose? Oh, I tried to socialize with them, to satisfy my instincts, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to act like those disgusting, idiotic savages!"

Ox snorted in complete disgust. "So instead, you decided to make _them_ more like _you_. You just couldn't accept them until they were your perfect little 'brethren'. And I thought _Shen_ had issues..."

He turned all the way around to face Ox now. "Why shouldn't the rest of my kind be more like me? Clearly, I am of superior stock. Chengshi de Lang is going to flourish under my leadership!"

"'Chengshi de Lang' is going to implode on itself, you idiot! You have no idea what you're doing!"

"_Idiot?!_" Hui's features contorted in madness and rage as he snarled furiously at Ox. He took a few deep breaths and returned to his somewhat calm state. "Enough of this drivel. You wish to challenge me for the city, yes?"

"Yes." Ox cracked his knuckles. "And don't think I'm gonna feel bad about hitting you just because you're a cripple."

Ox started walking up the stairs to the sparring platform while Hui went over to the right side, moving into his stance. "Hmph. Even without Fleetfoot, you will never defeat me."

"Oh yeah?" Ox walked to the opposite side and formed his own stance. "Is that what your instincts are telling you?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "No, but you know what my instincts _are _saying? They're saying that you have encroached on my territory, Master Ox, and they want me to spill your blood." His body started to shake a little and he formed a twisted grin. "Fine with me! I'll gladly spill it all over this city! Then no one will ever challenge me again!"

The two warriors stared each other down one last time and charged.


	15. Predators

_Alright, in the interest of not making you guys wait forever for the finale, I've decided to just focus on finishing this story for now and worry about my other one later. I hope you're okay with that._

_In this chapter, Jin makes reference to a particularly badass story from one of the Kung Fu Panda comics. Serious props for anyone who's a big enough KFP geek to recognize it. S__peaking of references, the ending also contains several to my previous story Always Together. I've tried to make this story accessible to anyone who hasn't read that, but it was kind of unavoidable in this case._

* * *

Chapter 15: Predators

The sounds of battle filled the air in the kung fu academy as Jin the Assassin fired his crossbows.

Master Croc swung his tail around and struck the two bolts out of the air, then used his hide to deflect a third. Jin was not deterred and kept firing at him, too slow to hit him, but too fast for Croc to get close. Knowing that he would wear down eventually, he tried hiding behind a column for cover, and after seeing that he was way too big for that, dove into one of the jail cells instead.

"Smooth move, genius," he muttered, upon seeing that he had just cornered himself. He turned around and faced the door, ready to attack the second he saw the fox enter. He waited for several moments, but nothing happened. The entire building was deathly quiet. Croc approached the doorway and slowly stuck his head out...

...then ducked it back in as a bolt went whizzing past.

"I think ya underestimate my patience," Jin taunted, spinning the crossbow around in his paw. "I'm an _assassin, _remember? It's literally in my name. Ya think I've never had a job that required sitting around before?" Croc attempted to dash out of the cell after his speech and found out the hard way that he was still paying attention. One bolt flew into the wall past his head, and as he fled back into the cell, he heard another one fired.

This one didn't miss.

Croc gasped in pain as he felt the second bolt pierce the end of his tail. In the safety of the cell, he examined the wound, wincing at the sight of blood oozing out of it. It was by no means fatal, but it still hurt like hell.

It was starting to occur to him that fighting this guy alone might not have been such a good idea. Five minutes in and he was already injured. Oh well, too late for regrets now, and he couldn't say he really had any. Every second he spent keeping Jin occupied was a second he wouldn't be going after Ox.

Croc looked around his cell for anything that could help him while Jin continued to ramble on. "I've heard all about yer exploits, ya know. The 'ghost ships of Chen Wei' for instance. Very impressive. Ya truly are the ultimate ambush predator of the water. But guess what? I'm a predator too, and here on dry land, _you _are _my _prey."

He saw Croc leap out of the cell again and fired a pair of bolts in his direction. He noticed too late that he was holding his cell's cot in front of him and the bolts embedded harmlessly into the metal. Croc then threw the cot at him and Jin rolled to the side to dodge it, but this distraction allowed Croc to get close enough to swing his spiked tail right at the fox's jaw.

Jin leaned his head back to avoid it. "Nice try!" Using his crossbows as melee weapons again, Jin swung at his adversary. Croc used his arms and legs to block the swings, which stung a little despite his tough skin. Tilting his head to the side, he clamped his jaws down on one of the crossbows and wrenched it out of the fox's grip. As Jin's eyes widened, he swung his tail into the fox's torso, flinging him into the wall. He ignored the searing pain that left in his tail and quickly jumped up to the upper level of the room.

Jin rubbed his head with his free paw and groaned. "Why ya little-" He stopped as he noticed Croc was no where in sight. He chuckled. "That's cute. Ya really think ya can hide from me?" He of course got no response.

He walked slowly around the room, honing his senses to listen for the reptile. It didn't do him much good. Even out of water, crocodiles were pretty quiet. He continued to listen as he approached his dropped crossbow and kicked it up into his paw, fully expecting an ambush. Still nothing.

He was suddenly startled by a loud clanging noise and pointed his crossbows around frantically. The noise happened again and he now realized it was coming from directly above him. "Yipe!" He jumped away as one of the large cages that hung from the ceiling nearly dropped onto his head. Both of its chains had been cut, probably by one of the training swords that were kept here.

More than a little miffed, Jin just nodded. "Okay, fine. If that's how ya wanna play..." He reached into the bag at his side and loaded both crossbows with his special explosive bolts. "The wonderful thing about explosives...ya don't hafta be that precise." He shot a bolt into a stack of boxes on the upper level and watched them splinter apart from the force of the explosion. But there was no one behind them.

"That's _one _hiding spot down. How many more do I need to blast to get a result?" He spun one crossbow around and pointed it. "Let's find out."

Croc cringed upon hearing another stack of crates explode. This could _definitely_ be going better. His original plan was to sneak around up here until he found an opening, but that wouldn't work if he was going to just blow up the whole place. And he couldn't just waltz on out either. What to do...

As he heard another explosion, he decided to take a page from Ox's book and just go for the attack. He positioned himself in front of the stack of crates in front of him, took a short breath, and swung his tail to send the entire stack flying to the floor below. He heard a surprised yelp from Jin as the crates fell towards him and saw the panicked look in his eyes.

That look turned into an angry glare and, just before the crates landed on him, he shot a bolt. Even in that brief instant, his aim was perfect and the bolt missed the crates completely to hone in on Croc. He only had enough time to turn his back to it before it struck.

Croc was thrown violently across the ground. His hide may have been impenetrable, but the explosion had burned the rest of his backside as well. Croc knew he couldn't just lie here for long and quickly got back up again. But he wasn't quick enough, as he only just turned around when he felt another bolt enter his ankle.

Croc screamed and was forced down onto one knee from the pain. He saw Jin now standing across from him, heavily bruised, but looking quite pleased with himself. "Let's see ya run and hide now."

He fired another bolt that Croc attempted to dodge, but the pain in his ankle slowed him and he took it in the arm. Not yet satisfied, Jin shot another bolt into him...and another...and another. Either he was out of explosive bolts or he just found the normal ones more fun. Croc, multiple bolts sticking out of his body and struggling just to remain standing, guessed the latter. "Ah ha ha ha ha! Looks like that's it then. How bout' a little show before ya die." Jin spun both crossbows at his sides, tossed one up in the air, caught it, spun it some more, and so on. While this was going on, Croc subtly reached behind his back.

Jin stopped his routine and aimed a crossbow straight at Croc's head. "Alright, it's been fun, but time to end this. Say good night."

"Good night." Croc dropped down to the ground on all-fours and lashed his tail over his head. This would have been a completely harmless maneuver at this range had he not just loosened the spiked ball on his tail. The ball flew off the end and nailed the unprepared Jin in the face. The fox staggered back in a daze, teetering dangerously close to the edge. Pushing all of his pain to the back of his mind, Croc used what strength he had to left to rush forward and tackle him over the edge. With Croc using Jin's body as a cushion, they both slammed into the floor.

There was a loud crash and a cloud of dust filled the room. Croc coughed a few times and looked around. As the dust cleared, he realized that he might have overdone that last attack. The two of them had gone straight through the floor of the academy, leaving a gaping hole to the Undercity below. That was going to take some serious repair work when this mess was all over. He tried to get up, but he had already pushed himself too hard just pulling _that _off and now could barely move. Jin wasn't faring much better, half-buried in a pile of rubble a few feet away. He could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't going to be getting up again anytime soon. He had won. His body was in complete agony and he looked like a reptilian pincushion, but he had won.

Croc slowly crawled over to where Jin was lying, still on-guard if he tried anything. "Uh...are you okay?"

Jin groaned weakly and coughed a bit, either from dust or his injuries. He looked at Croc like he had just asked the world's dumbest question. "Of course I'm... not bloody okay. Why do ya...care?"

Croc allowed himself to relax, which unfortunately made the pain from his injuries all the more noticeable. He tried to ignore it. "I'm a kung fu master. It's my duty to protect all forms of life, even a bloodthirsty assassin."

He expected more mocking from the prone vulpine, but he instead turned his head away, frowning. There was a few moments of silence before he spoke again. "...I didn't always used to be like this, ya know." His voice carried a surprising sadness. "I mean, I was never really...the paragon of morality, growing up as a thief and all, but I didn't used to...kill. I used to be...repulsed by the very idea."

Croc remained silent. It was clearly straining Jin to tell him all this, both physically and mentally, but he wouldn't be doing it if he felt it wasn't important and so he let him continue. "I...I used to be a part of this group of bounty hunters. It was our job to...capture criminals. Kinda like what _you_ guys do, except...more forceful. But we...we didn't kill our targets. We tried to be...somewhat honorable. Even to our sworn enemies...who are now my only friends. How's that for irony? Ah ha ha..." He broke off into a small coughing fit.

"So what happened to your old friends?" Croc asked.

"They're dead," he answered. "And they'd probably...hate me now anyway. I ended up...going out on my own. But no one...took me seriously by myself. I couldn't get...a single job. Eventually...someone did approach me...but they didn't want a bounty hunter. They wanted...an assassin."

Croc swallowed, having an uncomfortable idea where this was going. "I should've said no...certainly wanted to...but I needed the job. So I took it...and I took a poor sod's life for the first time. It was pretty hard...I felt absolutely sick with myself afterward. And yet...I decided to keep doing it...to try to make that...pain go away, ya know?"

For the first time since he started talking, Jin turned his head back to face Croc. His signature smirk was back, though his eyes and voice no longer matched the expression at all. "Well...it worked. After a while, the pain subsided...and it stopped feeling so bad. Started to feel...pretty fun actually. And now...here I am...Jin the Assassin." He looked straight up and laughed. "Ah ha ha ha...ha ha...ha..." His laugh trailed off and he passed out, still smirking.

As he looked over at the fox pitifully, Croc's own injuries caught up with him and he felt himself begin to pass out as well. He laid down on his back and silently apologized to Ox for not being able to come to his aid before the darkness overtook him.


	16. Alone

_This chapter wraps up the final battle(s), but we're not quite done yet. There's still one more little epilogue chapter to go._

* * *

Chapter 16: Alone

Master Ox was on the offensive, but he was quickly finding out that even without Fleetfoot, Kai Hui was no slowpoke. The Alpha wolf was nimbly dodging or blocking everything he threw at him, his movements visible, but still difficult to track.

But Ox continued his assault and threw a punch that brushed Hui's whiskers as he sidestepped it. He growled and finally struck back with a kick to Ox's chin. The bovine flew off the sparring platform and landed on his hooves, charging up the stairs at Hui on all-fours. As he got close, the wolf jumped onto him, running across Ox's back and kicking off the other side with enough force that Ox tumbled over the other end of the platform.

"If this were an actual spar, you would have already lost twice over!" Hui taunted. He leapt after him and attacked Ox with a series of aerial kicks. Ox raised his hooves and blocked them, slowly edging backwards. He finally reached up and grabbed Hui's ankle, swinging him around and throwing him to the ground. Hui bounced off once, his armor cracking, then landed back on his feet, glaring at him.

Ox didn't taunt him back as he normally would. He simply returned Hui's glare and formed his stance again, waiting for his next move.

Hui answered his silent challenge and rushed him. Ox watched him closely, and a second before he would have been hit, he stepped forward and struck first. His fist nailed Hui in the gut, leaving a large hole in his damaged armor. Hui gasped and coughed up a bit of blood. Ox then tried a headbutt, but Hui caught him by the horns. He let out a loud growl as he jumped over Ox's head, yanking him down to the ground. He rolled out of the way of a stomp aimed for his face and got back up.

Ox shuddered a little as he saw his opponent. The longer this battle went on, the more unhinged Hui became. Already, he could see the murderous rage in his eyes and the uncontrollable shaking in his body. He didn't need advanced perceptive abilities to see that the Alpha wolf had seriously lost it.

This time he taunted. "What's wrong, Hui? Is the big, slow ox putting up more of a fight than you'd like?"

Of all the things he thought Hui might do next, clawing him across the face was at the very bottom of the list. "Shut up! You can't stop me! This city is mine!"

Hui threw a series of punches at Ox. He blocked the first few, but they just kept coming, getting faster and faster until his arms became blurs and started battering him senseless. As it turned out, the name "Fleetfoot" was a bit of a misnomer. Hui could achieve the same technique using any part of his body, as Ox was now finding out the hard way.

"What's wrong?!" Hui echoed, his voice filled with sadistic glee. "Don't you want to save the city?! I thought you had a score to settle! Well, come on then! I'm _waiting!_" Hui continued his combo until he was abruptly stopped when his arms would no longer move.

A severely bruised Ox clutched both of Hui's fists in his hooves and snarled. "Wait's over." He headbutted again, now with nothing stopping him as he slammed into the wolf's skull with his own. Hui howled in pain as Ox yanked him in and kneed him in the gut, shattering his armor further.

Ox released his hold on the wolf's arms and grabbed him by the throat, pulling back his other fist for another blow.

He didn't realize at the time that he was letting his rage blind him. Hui's taunt had reminded him of all the lives the wolf had ruined, both Gongmen and Lang Qun, and of the one life he had brutally ended in front of him. It wasn't in his virtue as a kung fu master to think this, but he wanted Hui to suffer.

And that was his downfall as Hui used that brief distraction to hook his leg behind Ox's and trip him to the ground again. Ox wasn't able to get up fast enough this time and he saw the wolf come down on his left arm with his knee. There was a loud snap and Ox screamed in pain as his arm broke.

Hui grinned like a demon, clearly taking great pleasure in seeing his enemy lying injured in front of him. "I guess that's it then. Pity." He placed a foot on the broken arm and pressed down, making him scream again. "Tempting as it is torture you for a while longer, I've learned from my mistakes. I'm not going to leave even a single _piece_ of you behind."

Ox felt Hui's foot lift from his arm and saw the wolf walk out of his view. Quickly as he could, he used his other arm to push himself up to his knees, and then onto his hooves. He wondered why Hui hadn't simply finished him off while he was down. That answer became clear as soon as he caught sight of him again.

Hui was standing atop the Lang Qun cannon, and the weapon was pointed right in his direction.

Ox's eyes widened. He couldn't hope to dodge that thing in prime condition let alone now. He looked around desperately for anything that could save him. The only thing nearby was Master Rhino's cloud hammer embedded in the ground. With little other option, he rushed forward and yanked the hammer out. Hui saw the weapon in his hooves and laughed. "Ha! What do you think you're doing?! If Thundering Rhino couldn't stop this weapon, than _you _certainly can't!" He bent down and raked his claws hard against the top of the cannon, creating enough of a spark to light the fuse.

Ox looked down at the hammer in resignation. "You're right. This can't stop a cannon..."

He looked back up and glared at Hui. "...but it can stop _you!_" He reared back and threw the hammer with all his might.

The cannon fired. Ox took the full force of the blast and was blown backwards. At the same time, the cloud hammer struck Hui across the jaw. The wolf flew off the cannon and landed hard on the ground.

For a long time, both warriors just lied there, unmoving, Eventually, one them stirred.

Hui groaned softly and opened his eyes. He tried to get up and coughed some more blood onto the front of his armor, staining a good portion of his gray fur. Everything hurt, most of all his jaw. The bastard had nearly broken it. He managed to sit himself up on his paws and looked around wearily. Only now did he realize he was not alone.

The Lang Qun stood in front of him, their numbers continuing to file in from outside. They must have been drawn by the sound of the cannon, Hui realized. He couldn't see their faces behind their masks, but they were all murmuring amongst themselves, probably surprised that Hui had been defeated. But that didn't matter now. With his army back at his side, this wasn't over for him yet. He could still win. He could still fulfill his dream.

Hui smiled warmly and reached a paw out to them. "My brethren...help me..."

He knew something was wrong when no one grabbed his paw. The wolves were still just looking between each other and murmuring in confusion. "What are you waiting for?! I said help me!" This time one of them moved, walking to the front of the group to stand right in front of him. But instead of helping him up, he reached up and pulled the mask from his face, dropping it to the ground. Behind that mask, he saw the angry green eyes of Lu. He spat out a single word, filled with hatred and bitterness.

"No."

He turned around and walked away, leaving the mask behind. Hui watched in horror as, one by one, the rest of the Lang Qun threw their masks to the ground and did the same. "W-What?! What are you doing?! Come back!"

Ignoring his shout, the Lang Qun continued to walk away. Hui whistled after them a few times, but this didn't even slow them down. Injured as he was, he started to crawl after them. "Hey! I said come back! I _order _you to come back!"

They still didn't slow, and he was quickly losing distance on them. But Hui kept crawling, his cries getting more and more desperate. "No! You can't do this! You can't treat me like this anymore! Please! I can't be alone again! I am the Alpha!"

Hui's strength ran out and he dropped to the ground, only able to watch as the Lang Qun disappeared from view.

"I AM THE ALPHA!"

There was no one around to hear him.

* * *

Master Croc slowly woke up, his eyes readjusting to the light.

He was still lying in a giant hole in the floor, right below the kung fu academy. He didn't know why he expected anything different. The entire city was pretty much deserted aside from them, the wolves, and Jin...

Jin!

Croc immediately looked over to where the assassin was when he passed out, only to find him missing. He searched around the room frantically. Jin was in even worse condition than he was. How did he wake up before him_?_

His eyes soon settled on a flash of white mixed in with the gray and black of the rubble. Not far from where Jin was supposed to be, he saw a small piece of parchment stabbed into the rubble with a knife. Curiously, he crawled over and ripped it off, not bothering to remove the knife first. Written on the parchment was a short message:

_Sorry Master Croc, but Jinny is MINE! Better luck next time!_

_P.S. My sisters say hi._

And below that was a sketch of a feline face sticking a tongue out at him playfully.

Croc scratched his head, trying to make sense of the bizarre message. That face looked familiar to him somehow. And that mention of sisters...

He dropped the parchment in shock. It couldn't be.

"Hey! Anyone down there!"

Croc looked up as he heard the shout. It wasn't a voice he recognized, but he wasn't about to ignore it. "Yes! I'm right here!"

There was a sound of shuffling footsteps and then the face of an antelope looked down at him. "Master Croc! Thank the gods we found you!" He looked over him some more and his eyes widened at the sight of his numerous injuries. He shouted over his shoulder. "Hey! We need some help over here!"

Croc smiled in relief now that he was safely back in the care of the royal guard. He must have underestimated how serious his injuries really were, because as the guards started swarming in to help him, he passed out again.

* * *

_Ox opened his eyes to a familiar location. Technically, it was the same place he was just in, but a lot nicer. The giant cannon was gone, and in its place was the Tower of Sacred Flame. _

_But even sighting that magnificent tower once more was nothing compared to seeing Master Rhino standing in front of him. His old master smiled at him. "Congratulations, Master Ox. You did it."_

_Ox smiled back. "You mean...Gongmen City is saved?"_

"_Indeed. And it's all thanks to you and Master Croc."_

"_Croc!" he gasped. "Is he okay? I left him alone with that psychotic fox."_

"_He's injured, but alright," Rhino assured him. "He won his fight too."_

_Ox sighed in relief. "That's good. I guess my sacrifice was worth it then."_

_Rhino quirked his head._ "_Sacrifice? What are you talking about?"_

_"Well, I'm dead aren't I? Isn't that why I'm here?"_

_"Of course you're not dead! You're just dreaming again."_

"_Wait, what?!" Ox's jaw dropped. "But...the cannon-"_

"_Oh, you're in pretty bad shape, don't get me wrong, but definitely alive. I think it's because you're kinda chubby like the Dragon Warrior." Ox frowned. Not exactly the most heroic reason to survive an epic battle. But he couldn't really complain, all things considered. _

_"Heh. Apparently, everyone can survive getting shot with a cannon except you."_

_"Don't rub it in." __Rhino shook his head. "Just know that this doesn't mean you're done yet. The city still needs your help more than ever."_

"_But if neither of us are in good condition, how are we supposed to help anyone?"_

"_Don't worry," Rhino winked. "You'll have more help than you realize."_

He woke up.

Ox found himself in Gongmen City's local hospital, lying on a cot. He was not at all surprised to see that he was covered in bandages and burn scars, particularly around his midsection. He also had a splint attached to his left arm that Hui had broken in their battle. Naturally, he was in a lot of pain, but it was better than being dead. Marginally.

"Wow, you look like crap."

Ox turned his head to the right and saw Croc on the cot next to him. Like him, the reptile had bandages all over his body. Strangely he was missing the spiked ball on his tail. "You too."

He chuckled. "I figured as much. I guess this means you defeated Hui?"

"Sure did. What about the rest of the Lang Qun?"

"From what I heard, they've all surrendered. The royal guard is in the middle of trying to round our citizens back into the city."

"So...we did it then?" Ox could hardly keep the excitement out of his voice.

Croc gave a big toothy grin. "Yep. We did it."

As much pain as they were in, they reached across their cots and gave each other a hi-five.


	17. Rebuilding

_And another fic bites the dust. Thanks once again to everyone who's read and reviewed this story. In particular, I want to give a shout out to The Assassin of Xion, who started following me during this story and who has graciously invited me into his community. Thanks for that. _

_One last thing I'm going to do for this story is to add bios of all my major Kung Fu Panda OC's (from both this and Always Together) to my profile. After that, I'll finally get back to finishing the long-neglected No More Turnabout._

_E__njoy the final chapter._

* * *

Chapter 17: Rebuilding

It had been one week since Gongmen City was freed from Lang Qun control. The royal guard helped to return the civilians to the city as best they could while Ox and Croc remained confined to the hospital, slowly going mad from being unable to help out at all. But just this morning, they learned that the Imperial Army had arrived to assist in the effort.

"Oh, so _now _they want to help," Ox grumbled from his hospital bed. "After we had to deal with the actual threat by ourselves."

"They're probably going to try claiming all the credit for this too," Croc said, just as bitterly.

"Don't be so sour," the Soothsayer chastised. The old goat stood by their beds, drinking a cup of tea to calm her nerves. She needed it around these two. "The important thing is that the city is safe once again and recovering as we speak."

"Uh-huh," Ox said, not any less sour.

"Speaking of the Imperial Army, their captain is waiting in the lobby. He wants to speak to you about the incident."

"We've already relayed all the information to the royal guard. He can ask them," Croc said.

The Soothsayer sighed. It was probably for the best that they didn't meet, to be honest. "Very well. But they do want to know what you're doing with the Lang Qun. They're all sitting in Gongmen Jail for the time being, but the army offered to take them off our hands."

"Like hell they are!" Ox snapped. "The Lang Qun are _our _business, and if the captain has a problem with that, tell him to go shove it."

She cleared her throat. "I'll try to put it a bit more politely than that, but as you wish." She bowed and left the two masters alone.

Croc looked over at Ox curiously. "What _are _we going to do with the Lang Qun?"

"I think I have an idea."

* * *

Outside the hospital, a small platoon of Imperial Army rhinos stood around waiting for the go-ahead to arrest the Lang Qun. Eventually, the captain walked out of the building, an annoyed look on his face. "Time to go everyone. We're not wanted here."

"What do you mean?" a soldier asked.

"For some reason, these guys want to handle the Lang Qun themselves. Seems like it's just putting more work on them, but there's nothing we can do about it if they won't give us permission."

Most of the soldiers grumbled to themselves and walked away, but the one who spoke before remained, not yet done complaining. "So we came all this way and we don't even get to arrest anyone?" He snorted in frustration.

The captain looked strangely uneasy. "Well...there is _one _we're taking with us, but..."

"But what?"

"...I think you'd better see for yourself."

He signaled to the guard to follow him away from the hospital and over towards another street. He could see a few of Gongmen's royal guard hanging around the area, carrying the same level of unease that the captain possessed. The source of that unease seemed to be a large cart in the middle of the street, upon which sat a giant metal box, completely sealed off on all sides except for a single barred window. "Seems a bit excessive for only one prisoner, don't you think?"

The captain stayed silent, only gesturing to him to take a look. He was starting to get pretty uncomfortable himself, but his curiosity got the better of him and he went up to the box anyway. He peered in through the window and squinted, able to make out a moving shape in the darkness, but not able to tell what it was. He brought a fist up to the side of the box and knocked twice.

There was a loud snarl and the guard jumped away from the window as a pair of jaws came out and snapped at him. Whatever was inside the box continued snarling and started to bang itself against the sides in a vain attempt to get free. The poor guard nearly wet himself. "Holy crap...what happened to _him?!_"

"He went feral," the captain answered solemnly. "It happens when an animal's mind is broken to such a degree that they regress to a primitive state, guided solely by instinct. We're taking this one to an institution that specializes in these cases. He'll be in good hands there."

The guard edged over to the window again and chanced another look. He gulped as he saw the creature inside look back at him, a pair of icy blue eyes shining in the darkness. There was no hint of recognition in those eyes, as if he couldn't comprehend where he was or what was happening to him. They were soulless. Empty.

"Yikes."

"You're telling me. Grab onto that cart. The sooner we get this beast away from civilized society, the better."

"...Right."

The two rhinos got on the other end of the cart and began to pull it. The movement startled the feral wolf, and he began snarling and banging inside the box again as it left the city.

* * *

Ox and Croc, against the advice of all members of the hospital staff, chose to visit the Lang Qun themselves. This required the use of crutches to move around and a rickshaw ride across the city to Gongmen Jail.

The first thing they noticed about the wolves was that they were almost unnaturally friendly to them, all the more apparent without their concealing masks. Most greeted them politely or cheered while others settled for just smiling at them, but there wasn't a single Lang Qun who didn't seem happy to see them. Some of the more cynical guards thought they were just sucking up, but they knew the real reason. They hadn't just saved the city, but the pack as well.

"Masters Ox and Croc!" Lu called out from one of the larger cells. The green-eyed wolf bowed to them respectfully. "What brings you here?"

The masters walked over and stopped in front of him. "We came by to tell you all what's going to happen to you guys," Ox said. Instantly, the happy mood in the room dissipated. The wolves all looked away or down at their feet, ears and tails drooping.

"I understand," Lu sighed. "Even though most of us were brainwashed, we still attacked the city, and we were all working for Shen even before that. We will accept whatever punishment you see fit."

"Well, Ox? What did you come up with?" Croc asked, just as interested as they were.

Ox took a deep breath, knowing that this was going to cause an uproar. "How would you guys feel about...community service?"

"What?!" Croc shouted.

"What?!" The wolves were just as shocked.

"What?!" As were the royal guard.

"Guys, guys, relax," Ox raised a hoof to silence them. "Look, the Lang Qun did a lot of bad things, but I know now that that was partially our fault for mistreating the wolves in the first place. I think they at least deserve a second chance." He looked down at his crutch with disdain. "And frankly, we need all the help we can get putting Gongmen City back together. Not to mention keeping it safe from anything else dumb enough to mess with it."

He heard a few nervous murmurs from behind him and turned around to face the antelope guards. "Don't worry, they're not replacing you. Just think of them as backup." The murmurs quieted down, if only slightly. He wasn't sure if there was any actual speciesism present here, or if they were just nervous about being grouped together with a bunch of large carnivores. Either way, they would have to get used to it. He was going to make _damn _sure these wolves would be treated with respect.

He looked back at Lu, who was still speechless. "Serving the city again. That's what Chou would've wanted, don't you think?"

Lu smiled, the slightest hint of tears in his eyes. "...Yeah. I think so too." He turned around and projected his voice to the other wolves. "What about you guys? You up for bringing this city back to its former glory?"

He was met with a chorus of cheers. It didn't surprise them in the least to see them so quick to agree, and not just because it kept them out of jail. "Looks like the Lang Qun have a new Alpha," Croc noted. "You know what? I don't think this will be so bad after all."

"Glad to hear that. Now how about we go back to the hospital and actually relax this time?"

"Fine with me. We've done enough crap on our own. Let's leave the rest to them."

With that, Ox and Croc shuffled back to their hospital beds for some much-needed rest, knowing that Gongmen City would soon be prosperous once more.

THE END


End file.
